Interurban North Trail
Seattle,
Washington
Overview
The Interurban North trail between Seattle and Everett is 24 miles long and passes through a number of communities along the way, including Shoreline, Mountlake Terrace, Edmonds, and Lynnwood. It's not really a single trail, but rather a combination of trails, some short and some long, stitched together via bike lanes on the road, riding on the shoulder of the road and sections best ridden on the sidewalk. As such, you should review your route prior to embarking, as even though there is signage along the way, certain sections will require riding on the road to reunite with the trail.
Directions
Parking
Trip Reports
It had been awhile since I had been out in Seattle for a walk, with holiday travel and weather conspiring against me. A break in the rain aligned with a long lunch, and I decided to head up to the Interurban North Trail. While I have ridden this a ton on my bike, I don’t know that I have ever actually walked this trail.
Years ago I tried to find the Interurban North trail and had no luck (this was before I had a smart phone…). I had looked at a map that showed the trail starting off Fremont Ave and I must have ridden my bike right by where the Interurban North starts - I don’t believe there was any real signage at the time. Anyways, I now know where it is, and while the Interurban North is really a patchwork of pedestrian trails and sidewalks/bike lanes, it is a convenient place to get out on if you live in North Seattle.
As I walked along the trail, I noticed a lot of art, and immediately thought, is this new in the last couple of months, or have I just never noticed most of it when I am whizzing by on my bike? I had a similar experience when walked instead of jogging on the Green Lake Trail.
After 128th street the pedestrian trail ended, and I continued along the sidewalk, enjoying the art along the way. This certainly isn’t the most inspiring walk in regards to scenery, but it was good to be out exercising.
Upon reaching 145th, the pedestrian trail begins again. I contemplated going further, however dark clouds were starting to come in again, and I was running out of time, so I decided to turn around. Walking back I swung by the Bitter Lake Reservoir Park, another place I have passed by many times but never actually gone to. There was a strange sight - a set of stairs leading into a small ditch, with a small gate in front of the stairs. First question is, why have the stairs there in the first place? And then I thought, why put the gate there, are they concerned someone is going to blindly walk down the stairs into the ditch and won’t be able to get out?
As I walked back I continued exploring off the trail, this time going over to Bitter Lake. I watched a mass of ducks swarming to feed on the bread a person was throwing out into the water, and then made my way back to the sidewalk to motor on back to the car.
Interurban North Trail was a convenient place to get out for a walk, and it was nice to explore Bitter Lake, but I think I will stick to riding my bike on this section in the future.
