My husband and I walked almost 7 miles and there are so many more trails to see! All paths were easily marked and well maintained. read more

Discovery Park - A lovely walk on the sand by the lighthouse. - Parks Near Me - Seattle, Washington

See all

Fantastic place that I take for granted because it's only two miles from my house. Shame on me. read more

A beautiful hike, with cute little beaches to stop and hang out on. When I went, there weren't very many people on the trail and we could take our time. read more

Discovery Park is a beautiful place to visit! It's amazing how such an awesome slice of Seattle can be hidden among the crazy hustle and bustle of the busy city. There are numerous hikes throughout the park, each one lends spectacular views of the Puget Sound, Mt. Rainier (on a clear day), West Seattle, Bainbridge Island, and parts of downtown. Be sure to stop by the lighthouse when you make it down to the beach... it's such a cute little lighthouse! There is a lot of history in this park... it's fun to explore when you have the time. And it's a great place to hit up when you want to escape city life without having to drive a bazillion miles. read more

Discovery Park - Parks Near Me - Seattle, Washington

Thank you Seattle yelpers for all the amazing reviews! Came to Seattle for the first time last year and fell in love with DP. I spent a few hours of my day walking around DP... and found myself playing in the flower fields and down by the ocean. I would love to come back and visit DP if I ever head back up to Seattle. If you're a local or visiting.. be sure to hit up DP and bring comfy shoes to walk in because it's a lot of walking! Miss DP! read more

See all

I strongly urge visitors that go on the foot trails of Discovery Park to wear appropriate footwear--meaning no sandals--as I seriously injured my right foot in mid-September. These trails are not always very well maintained, and one small boulder, tree stump or root, uneven step can really set you back weeks--in pain, discomfort, and physical therapy. * * * * * It's difficult to find a place to be alone, period, in Seattle, especially as urban density crowds us all into increasingly cramped spaces. Neighbors above, below, on-the-the-other-side-of-the wall. But Discovery Park comes close to being that: rolling, expansive meadows of wildflowers and tall grasses, a monumental bluff overlooking Puget Sound and a beach below, lighthouse, forests, yellow clapboard houses worthy of an Edward Hopper painting (including a church). Crisscrossing the meadows, dotted with bright yellow dandelions in the dry summer, one is transported into a Monet painting of a field of poppies. Douglas fir, Western red cedar, Bigleaf maples, wild roses, pine, oak, Himalayan blackberry, Scotch broom, cottonwood, red alder, and salal--in other words, many of more representative local species of fauna and flora--can all be found here. I even sighted my first woodpecker here. In summer, the sight of a nonstop line of visitors walking along the South Bluff is reminiscent of a phalanx of ants advancing steadily towards a trail of bread crumbs. Yes, you will encounter people in color-coordinated athletic wear, yammering on their cellphones and oblivious to the endangered majestic beauty around them. Unfortunately, as well, are the huge swathes of Army and Navy (remnants of the original Fort Lawton) compounds mixed in. And a huge ugly concrete bunker, the Daybreak Cultural Center, sometimes rented out for weddings. The 2.8 mile Loop Trail, as its name suggests, will leave those of us with an underdeveloped sense of direction, walking around in ovals and ellipses with no idea of where we are. The foot trail that leads from the Loop Trail down the north slope to the North Beach descends steeply. It was here that I twisted 120 degrees--and in doing so seriously sprained my right foot on one of the partially missing wooden steps. * * * * * I would highly recommend joining the Friends of Discovery Park, a non-profit organization which has been fighting for years to preserve the natural habitat in all its tranquility. They and Historic Seattle have been trying to buy the historic houses--dating from the early-mid 20th century--instead of having them sold to developers to put up condos. http://www.friendsdiscoverypark.org/ http://www.seattle.gov/parks/Environment/discovparkindex.htm#about read more

This is by far my favorite park and beach in Seattle. There is no parking right by the beach atleast for the public which made this beach a lot cleaner. The lighthouse has a gate around it, but it is still beautiful. There is a bunch of parking right when you enter in the park, but it fills up quickly. This place literally has everything. The playground is a kids dream. read more

This is my absolute favorite place in Seattle. I am a huge history buff and love historical sites and structures. This park has it all: from 19th century buildings, to scenic views, sandy beaches, shady trees, and natural wildlife. Located in Seattle's Magnolia neighborhood, Discovery Park is a true hidden gem. read more

See all

We were back in WA for a little weekend getaway. - planned to hit some breweries that we missed when we lived here in 2008. -Indulge at the Issaquah REI garage sale -Enjoy the cool weather ( it's been 80 and sunny at home for weeks!) -Decide if we want to move here again and look at houses It is our last day of our weekend getaway. Monday Feb 27,2012. Our flight is in 4 hours. It's cold, but sunny. Let's go to the BEACH! I had been here one other time, on my birthday in 2008. My birthday is in May, so the weather was awesome and that equals = park crowded. This time, we pull in and there is like no one there. I am wondering, " is this place closed?" no, a more logical wonder is " did J close the park just for us?" hahahahah, yeah, he is that powerful. :) I see the water. I run. I see the Olympics. I run faster. I am at the water's edge. I almost cry. I have only seen the Olympics that clear one other time. It was amazing! I am getting goose bumps right now thinking of it! Bryan Adams's song "Heaven" is in my head. I picked up rocks and shells. Like a 4 year old, I ran to J to show him the rocks and shells. I touched the water. I grabbed a handful of sand. I climbed on driftwood. I take deep breaths of the fresh sea air .I talked to the sea gulls. We just walked up and down the beach due to our time constraint. We took some pictures. I volunteer to live in the lighthouse! If I lived here I would try to come here everyday. read more

See all

Great place to take a hike. Discovery Park is on the shores of Puget Sound. Made for a fantastic hike down to the light house. Can't enter this unfortunately. Views from the top gorgeous. It is in the Magnolia neighborhood. We did about five and a half miles. The area is beautiful. read more

The pictures don't do it justice but you get the "picture" (pun intended!) Just walk, explore, take pictures, relax, and love. It is hard not to enjoy that beautiful, beautiful place. read more

Discovery Park - Parks Near Me - Seattle, Washington

I love Discovery Park. The loop trail is a great way to get away and breathe for an hour or so. We've had a great time exploring tide pools during the summer lowest tides. If you have little ones, or you're new to beach walks, I highly recommend going to South Beach when there is a naturalist guided beach walk going on. Sunset at the beach is amazing, with breathtaking views of Mt. Rainier. When we were carless for awhile, it was still a convenient busride from downtown. Tranquility, vistas, wildlife (river otters!) What more could you ask for so close to the city? read more

Discovery Park - Parks Near Me - Seattle, Washington

Beautiful park about 20 minute drive from downtown Seattle. You'll feel transported - the park trails are quiet and there's a dense tree canopy that makes you feel much more than 20 minutes away from the city. We ran the loop trail, which opens up onto a breathtaking panorama of the Puget Sound at one point during the 2-ish mile trail. read more

Discovery Park - Trail map of Discovery Park, Aug 2013 - Parks Near Me - Seattle, Washington

Pros: beautiful scenery - peaceful parts of the park - untouched nature that you can't find anywhere else in Seattle. Cons: the park doesn't allow you to drive back to the lighthouse but when we got there on foot there were at least a dozen cars back there. Either enforce the rules regarding access or change them. read more

Discovery Park - Mount Rainer view from the lighthouse - Parks Near Me - Seattle, Washington

See all

Love this park. It's like going camping to get your nature fix in the middle of the City. The hiking trails are usually busy. You can pick trails with varying degrees of difficulty or take your time meandering. But the views are beautiful and it's a nicely maintained park. Highly recommend! Word of caution The trails can get slick and muddy with rain. Don't wear your best tennis shoes or hiking boots. It can get messy but it's worth it. read more

Huge, beautiful park to wander around in. Lots of fields, sand, and gravel paths. A couple of nice viewpoints for photos. Great places for naps :) Wish the map given out by the visitor's center had distances. And that the markers on the trails also had distances and appeared more often. We tried to make it to the lighthouse but 1) didn't know how far we were and 2) had a time crunch. :( I kinda do/don't wanna know how close we got- it might hurt too much! Next time, will definitely prep for the trek with water, shorts, and maybe a walking stick. The ones the little kids had looked really helpful! read more

Discovery Park - Parks Near Me - Seattle, Washington

See all

Love it. Lighthouse, sand, sea, trails and flowers all over. There are two parking lots and the north one has the enough space and it takes 30 minutes to the seashores. read more

See all

We hiked this park back in 2015. There was great parking and the woods was cool. There are roads that wind around so do be careful of that.

Hidden Gem in Seattle. A runner's delight. Runner's World recently ran a photo of a friend of mine running by the light house. Just 7 minutes from downtown, lots of trails and beach access. The path north of the lighthouse is one of my favorites and I rarely see others when I'm there. A great place to walk your dog, fly a kite on a windy day, or enjoy the killer views of Puget Sound, Olympics, and great for sunsets. read more

Love this park! My friend took me here and we did the ~3 mile loop. Its gorgeous with views of the bay and shady trails with tall, gorgeous trees. A lovely nature escape in the middle of the city! Come here to hike and enjoy some Seattle nature without having to drive out of the city. read more

Not the easiest place to find or get to but the views are worth it. Why, oh why have I been driving so far out of town to go hiking when I could've come here all along? read more

Discovery Park is Seattle's largest park, on a former military base. There's a small playground, but most of the park is dedicated to walking and hiking trails. The trails here, while not as nice as you might find an hour or so outside of Seattle, are some of the most nature you'll find in the city (though, unlike Seward Park, none of the forests here are truly old-growth). There's a truly expansive network of trails and paths. I've been here a couple of times and have never made it out to the beach; it's quite a walk from the east parking lot, which is where the visitor center is. Maps were available for free at the visitor center, but many of the distances are longer than they look on the map, so be prepared for that. Also, a few of the sign posts seem to be out of date regarding locations of restrooms. It can be easy to take a wrong turn and get lost since there are many trail intersections and it's not always easy to tell which trails are "official" and which aren't. The visitor center is new-looking and nice, with some interactive exhibits aimed at kids like bird song recordings. The visitor center has a nice mural of nature scenes. There are conference rooms in here you can rent. The visitor center has restrooms indoors, but it closes at 5:00. There were some restrooms in the outdoor part of the visitor center but they were locked. Other than these, the only restrooms we found in the park were porta potties that were out of hand sanitizer. Because of this, if you plan on hiking, be sure to bring a water bottle. We just had a coffee cup that we were planning to refill with water, but we never managed to find a working water fountain (or restroom with sink) other than the one at the visitor center. There was one water fountain near the chapel in the old military base area, but it did not work. Pets are supposed to be on leash here, but there were many people on the trails whose dogs were not leashed. Everyone thinks their dog is the exception. It's not. I wish they could enforce the leash rules better. It's a nice park, just be prepared to walk a lot, and it helps to have some plan as to where you're going. read more

Discovery Park - Parks Near Me - Seattle, Washington

I'm giving this park 4 stars as I found it a little difficult to navigate. I am an out-of-towner and just had a free evening to wander about Discovery Park. I heard great things about the views here, so I wanted to check it out. I just think you need to do a decent amount of research before coming here. I had a lot of trouble figuring out where to park so I could walk and see some good views. I was looking for a good view of the city and the mountains. I ended up parking down by the lighthouse and did see some great views of Mt. Rainier, but I couldn't see the city from where I was. The one thing that really confused me was the parking situation. I visited in the evening when the park office was closed. Therefore, I couldn't get a parking voucher and you needed permission in order to park near the lighthouse. So I just parked there anyway and kept running back to my car to make sure it wasn't getting towed. Kinda disrupted the evening needing to go back and forth... it didn't allow me to see that much of the park. My advice is just do a little more research than I did, so you can really take in this park. It's huge, there are a ton of trails.. it's pretty incredible. I would absolutely go again and I would be more prepared that time around! read more

Our top favorite family hiking spot ever! There's a super cool playground, you can hike down to the lighthouse, beach comb for unique shells, big and small crabs, and look out for seals playing in the water! It's a great workout either trail you go down and back up, but so worth it. Views from the top are stunning, especially sunsets, and walking the beach is so much fun for all ages. Bring waterproof shoes you don't mind getting muddy as there seems to be clay wall runoff that is sticky and muddy! Kids like to find the clay walls and play with the natural clay though so it's an added bonus. Change of clothes is recommended for when you make it back to the car and don't want the car seats all muddy! read more

See all

First of all, parking absolutely sucks. You have to walk a long way to the beach. Lots to find at low tide though! I found tons of LIVE scallop the size if my palm and several large jellyfish washed up. There were also tons of tiny crabs under the rocks! I think there may have been razor clam too. I wish I could find cool shells though--I only saw clams, mussel, and scallop shells. read more

Discovery Park - Live scallop - Parks Near Me - Seattle, Washington

See all

My all time favorite beach in Seattle. Amazingly always NOT crowded, just a few random stragglers roaming about. Peaceful, clean, quiet with driftwood and on a clear day, a beautiful view of Mt. Rainier in the distance. Tranquility at its finest. read more

Discovery Park - Mt Rainier in the distance from the beach - Parks Near Me - Seattle, Washington

See all

A great place to take/rent bikes and ride around. There is a trail to a little beach with a lighthouse, easy to ride to but somewhat challenging to ride back from. There are walking trails and parks to spend time playing or relaxing. We set up a hammock between some trees and had a nice afternoon. read more

See all

So pretty. Being a Seattleite you rarely take time to discover your neighborhood. I grew up 15 minutes south of discovery park and we love coming up here to enjoy the scenery and walk or jog. You get a beautiful view of the water and ferries drive by. read more

Discovery Park - Parks Near Me - Seattle, Washington

See all

LIGHTHOUSE.... f/16, digital infrared. :) Awesome park. But a little far away... that's the only downside. read more

Love this hiking loop- and our pup loves it even more. It's a little bit of forest/jungle in the city with beach accesses and stellar sound views! I would say it's typically moderately trafficked- though in winter, less so. The signage is why I'm not giving 5 stars... it's great to a point, but we got off track twice today... there should be a sign at every fork in the road. read more

Simple stunning! Beautiful place to go with kids. We spent the entire day and it was a beautiful family day. I will there again with my kiddos read more

Discovery Park - Parks Near Me - Seattle, Washington

Seattle is just speckled with parks, many of which are designed by the same architects as Central Park in NYC. I really liked Discovery Park, the lighthouse is especially scenic. Quite pretty and an enjoyable hike with a bit of ascents+descents. Standing on top of the cliff with the dead grass (Seattle had a very dry summer when I was there), I felt the first scent of autumn. Maybe it was just the chilly air coming off the water. Or maybe it was that it was over a week into September. read more

See all

Went here looking for daisies. Now I've been back three times. It's beautiful, and lots to see. Many little paths so take a picture of the map, so you know how to get back to your car. Daisies everywhere, you have two beaches and I've seen some bunnies/birds. It's so beautiful read more

This place is awesome!! It is very easy to get to using public transportation. I was visiting Seattle on a solo trip and rode the bus here from downtown. The bus dropped me off right at the entrance of the park. From there I went in the visitors center where there are restrooms, water fountains and maps that explain the different trails and their lengths. After filling up my water bottle and grabbing a picture of their map, I set off on the most popular loop trail. The trail itself is well maintained and the scenery is just gorgeous. I went at about 8-9am on a weekday and it felt like I had the whole place to myself. When I reached the beach/light house I was able to sit and watch Orcas jumping in the water!! How cool is that. I spent over an hour just relaxing and taking in the beauty of the water before heading back on the trail back to the visitors center. read more

I feel like they could be maintaining it better, offering more programs not just for kids but also adults, clean up the kids park and trails to the beach. Over all though this place is way better and bigger than many other parks of its kind in the Seattle (and vicinity) area. I grew up in magnolia though so maybe it's just me, but this place is beautiful. read more

Stunning. I loved hopping around on the rocks and exploring through the forest preserve. It's a serene place that isn't overly manicured so it still has a very natural feel. I really hope it doesn't get converted into a more "tourist attraction" kind place because the abandoned little buildings next to the lighthouse are delightfully spooky. read more

Discovery Park - Absolutely gorgeous sunsets at the lighthouse. - Parks Near Me - Seattle, Washington

My visit took place about 7 months ago as of this review. This place is incredibly beautiful. The walk here took about 35 to 40 minutes from the discovery park entrance. Even the walk there is breathtaking. The smell of early morning dew combined with the soil gives every visitor such a welcomed morning. Better than the smell of any morning coffee. This magical place makes you feel like you are walking on some enchanted land from the olden times of the medieval era. The greenary, the wind, the sound of the Pacific ocean smashing through the rocks, it all comes together like some orchestra from nature. Once you get to the lighthouse, you find yourself at this little peninsula. Rocky and acoustic, other than the light structure it is just you, the scattered clouds, the small dark sanded shore and the ocean. The end reward is worth it. Highly recommended. Follow me and my adventures @Sin_Aguayo fb: Sin Aguayo read more

See all

There's so much to do at Discovery Park. But much of the park is not accessibly by car, so the best way to explore is to set off on foot. Maybe you can find a pair of comfortable shoes at first. Begin at the east parking and pick up a park map at the Environmental Learning Center. This is the best place in the city to explore tide pools and look for sea creature at low tide. The West Point Light House is beautiful. read more

See all

Enjoyed this little hike. The beach was refreshing. Make sure to check out the lighthouse! It was a bit muddy when I went but hopefully I can come back here during summer. read more

Discovery Park - Parks Near Me - Seattle, Washington

Came to discover this park while on a short trip in Seattle. Was glad it was recommended! Loved being able to have multiple parking lots and places to start hiking from. Beautiful views and a nice little hike! For being so close to the city this is a nice escape. Looks like a good place to do some dog walking. There's a visitors station with bathrooms and maps of the park. Will be back to check out more of this place! read more

Discovery Park - Parks Near Me - Seattle, Washington

See all