Location: Central Seattle/Madison Park
Address: E. Madison St. and E. Howe St.
Acreage: 8.3
I’ve been trying to visit as many of Seattle’s waterfront parks as I can while the weather is still warm. I love taking a quick dip in Lake Washington on a warm day.
And Madison Park is a great park for that. It’s one of the most centrally located parks for swimming, just a quick drive from downtown on Madison Avenue. It’s also situated in the sweet little neighborhood of Madison Park, where you can find a handful of restaurants and shops. If you enjoy experience real estate envy, take a walk around the neighborhood. Madison Park’s gorgeous old homes are drool-inducing.
Anyway, back to the park. The beach area at Madison Park is particularly nice with well maintained grass and plenty of shade from the park’s tall trees. Big kids like the swimming platform and diving board. Little ones like the sandy section near the south end of the shore.
Many visitors probably don’t realize there’s another section of the park across the street from the beach. Featuring a tennis court, large grassy play area and a playground, it’s worth checking out.
Most kids know about this part of the park, because the playground is the coolest looking one I’ve seen so far in Seattle. Resembling a space ship that’s been partially dissembled, the playground has so many interesting things to climb on, up and through. There’s even a miniature zipline!
Madison Park was the most popular beach in the city in the late 19th century. This is probably not so much due to the nice beach and beautiful views as to the fact that the park had a floating bandstand, as well as beer and gambling halls at that time.
Today, you won’t be able to drink or play poker, but you can swim, swing and picnic to your heart’s content.
#17 (Visited 8/26/09)