Interlaken Park
Seattle,
Washington
Overview
Interlaken Park is a densely wooded area on a hill in the northern part of the Capitol Hill neighborhood of Seattle. The main trail, East Interlaken Blvd, is actually more like a road, but only for pedestrians and bikers, and makes for a nice stroll. A couple other trails branch off of the Boulevard and will take you along streams and through densely wooded areas.
From the Interlaken Park East Entrance, follow E Interlaken Blvd and look for an unnamed trail on your left where the Boulevard curves up the hill. Follow this trail as it parallels a stream and heads up the hill. At the first two junctions, continue to your right as both lead to the street. The trail will eventually bring you to E Interlaken Blvd, and you can take the Boulevard back down to the East Entrance.
Directions
Parking
Trip Reports
Taking advantage of a break from the dreary weather and rain that Seattle is famous for, I decided to head over to Interlaken Park for a quick hike along the trails and Interlaken Boulevard. I had been here once before, but only on the pedestrian boulevard, and was curious to see what the trials were like. Consulting the map, it looked like I could connect a couple of trails with Interlaken Boulevard to make a short, but sweet hike.
I decided on trying a loop from the Interlaken Park East Entrance. It was easy to find a place to park along the road a short distance from the entrance to the Park. The hike started out along the Boulevard and I took a left as soon as I came across the first trail. The trail ran alongside a stream for a bit, and had a decent amount of uphill. I didn’t encounter anyone else on the trail, and it was a pleasant hike. At one point there was a trail that went up to the left, but I was pretty sure that wasn’t what I wanted, so I kept on this trail until I neared Interlaken Drive East, and then went left again.
The trail paralleled the road for a while, before starting to descend down the hill. Near the bottom I caught sight of East Interlaken Boulevard and took a left to stay on the trail and hike above the road. Apparently before this was a park, there was a bicycle trail used by folks to get down to Lake Washington, and it’s likely East Interlaken Boulevard was at least partially built on top of the old bike trail.
I followed the trail until it eventually connected with East Interlake Boulevard, and then took the old road back to my car.
A short hike, but through some nice forest. I'll have to come back with my bike to ride down East Interlaken Boulevard.
