Golden Gardens Park

Located just north of Shilshole Marina on the western side of Ballard, Golden Gardens Park is a nice beachfront area with picnicking areas, sand, fields and a few secluded ponds near the north beach which held ducklings when I visited there earlier today.

In addition to playing frisbee or romping through the sand, Golden Gardens has incredible views of the Puget Sound and the Olympic mountains beyond on clear days. You'll also see a number of small sailing ships from the aforementioned marina, and possibly also large container ships heading towards the Port of Seattle from the entrance to the Puget Sound.

Some pictures I took from earlier today:

From Golden Gardens Park, Ballard, Seattle

Gasworks Park

Gasworks park is a very nice small park at the north end of Lake Union, accessible via the Burke-Gilman trail or by car (about 50 parking spaces or so are at the north end of the park). The old machinery has been repainted in primary colors and there is a covered picnic area on the east side next to the former Gasworks. In addition to the old buildings and machinery, there are great views of Eastlake, South Lake Union and Queen Anne hill from a walkway around the south end of the point.

Discovery Park

This is a great park on the west edge of Magnolia. It has great views of Puget Sound and nice walking trails with a variety of loops for different distances and exertion levels. On the north side is a small Navy station, and there are some great birdwatching opportunities on the west side near the lighthouse. The west end also houses a sewage treatment facility, but it seems well-run and is reasonably-well concealed in the forested section along that coast.
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