Location: Northeast Seattle
Address: Sand Point Way N.E. and N.E. 93rd St.
Acreage: 22
I sometimes think Matthews Beach Park gets a little forgotten and neglected in the shadow of its more popular big brother, Magnuson Park.
It’s much smaller, it doesn’t have any exciting geographic features like the hills at Magnuson that are so popular for flying kites and it seems a little worn. The half basketball court’s net is ripped. The restrooms are old and pretty scrubby.
But set this aside and look at what makes Matthews Beach a great park: an excellent swimming beach, pleasant open grassy areas, magnificent tall trees, good access off the Burke-Gilman Trail and nice views of the Eastside and Olympics.
On this sunny early Fall day, the sandy shore bustles with toddlers toting plastic buckets. A few swimmers do laps back and forth between the wood pilings. Bikers and runners take a break from their long distance workouts to refill their water bottles and rest in the shade.
Matthews Beach’s visitors know this park deserves some respect.
Or maybe they prefer that it keeps its status as the lesser known sibling.
#24 (Visited 9/11/09)