Discovery Park Beach Trails hike in Seattle, Washington

Why Go

Discovery Park encompasses 534 acres within the neighborhood of Magnolia and has 12 miles of trails. While it;s hard to go wrong choosing a trail, The North Beach and South Beach trails are a great way to explore the park. It obviously features a trail along the beach where you will likely encounter wildlife like blue heron, ducks and seals, but includes a forested section and passes by the West Point Lighthouse.

From the Discovery Park North Parking Lot, follow Texas Way road west towards the Puget Sound and take a right onto the Loop Trail. Shortly after getting onto the Loop Trail, continue to your right to merge into the North Beach Trail. Proceed down the hill and follow the North Beach Trail along the water and past the West Point Lighthouse until it merges into the South Beach Trail. If time permits, walk along the beach before following the South Beach trail into the Loop Trail. From this junction, there are a number of different ways you can make your way back to the North Parking lot, including following the Loop Trail into Texas Way, which will drop back at the parking lot.

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Getting There

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Directions

Driving north on 15th Ave NW take the ramp to Emerson St right before the Ballard Bridge and turn right onto W Nickerson St and then left onto Emerson St. In .2 miles, turn right onto 21st Ave west, which then becomes W Commodore Way. Turn left onto 40th Ave and then right onto Texas Way which will end at the parking lot.

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Parking

While it’s possible to obtain a beach parking pass at the Visitor Center and start your hike directly on one of the beach trails, the passes are in very limited supply and may require a substantial wait to obtain a pass.

The Discovery Park North Parking lot is an excellent option, with a good amount of parking available. It sees less use than the Visitor Center parking lot, meaning you will have a good chance of finding a spot on most weekends and definitely during the week. No parking passes or fees required at any of the parking lots in Discovery Park.

Stolen Lunch Break Magic

I squeezed a rare break in Seattle drizzle into an unexpected solo adventure through the Wolf Tree maze to North Beach, stumbling onto the West Point Lighthouse and watching seals play in the Sound.

calendar_today November 16, 2021

straighten 4.8 miles, roundtrip · 550 ft gain

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Discovery Park was calling my name when a break in the dreary Seattle weather lined up with a little extra time during my lunch break. I landed on the North Beach trail at Discovery Park - as I had only hiked once before and that was at least ten years ago. I quickly consulted a map and decided on the North Parking lot as my starting point.

Upon exiting the car and figuring out what trail to take to the North Beach Trail, I noticed some signage for the Wolf Tree Nature area. There were a number of different trails going through the area, but it looked straightforward to connect a couple together to take me West towards the North Beach trail. I started walking on the Wolf Tree Trail and guessed which direction to head at a coupe of intersections, knowing the trail sections were short and they would all take me to the same general area - a series of ponds. I then made my way to Texas Way road and continued on the road until reaching the Loop Trail.

Wolf Tree Nature Trail

A pond in the Wolf Creek Nature Area

Walking along Texas Way

After a short walk on the Loop Trail, I took a right onto a trail that connected into the North Beach Trail, and began the descent down towards the water. On my way down I noticed a large group of birds that were gathered on some bushes, and they appeared to be eating the leaves, or possibly eating insects that were on the leaves? They didn’t seem to mind me passing by so close, and I tried to snap a photo, but it was difficult as they were busy fluttering between the different branches of the bushes.

Bird seen from the North Beach Trail

Going down the North Beach Trail

Puget Sound and snow capped Olympic Mountains

I eventually reached the water’s edge and across the Puget Sound I could make out snow on the upper part of the Olympic Mountains. While the clouds hadn’t abated like I had hoped, at least it wasn’t raining. While walking along the North Beach trail, I spotted something moving in the water a couple hundred yards offshore and am pretty sure it was a seal, as it appeared fairly large. A short distance later I saw a large number of ducks in the water.

Seal swimming in Puget Sound

Ducks in Puget Sound

North Beach Trail at Discovery Park

Walking along the trail, I smelled a mild and unpleasant odor - was it the waste treatment plant, the stagnant water along the trail or was I smelling a non-existent odor because I knew the waste treatment plant was there? Not sure, but it didn’t matter as I left the trail and walked along the beach until I reached the lighthouse, passing by a blue heron along the way.

Blue heron in Puget Sound

Discovery Park beach

Reaching the West Point Lighthouse, I noticed a group of people with telephoto cameras and spotting scopes surveying the Puget Sound. I tried to eavesdrop on their conversation to figure out what they were looking for, but couldn’t quite make out what they were saying, and I couldn’t see anything moving in the water.

West Point Lighthouse

The sun started to come out as I was walking along Fort Lawton Beach, and I decided to walk to the end of the beach before making my way up to the South Beach Trail. Near the end of the beach was a cool cave in the side of the bluff.

Path along Fort Lawton Beach

Large piece of drfitwood on Fort Lawton Beach

Cave in Magnolia Bluff

I headed back along the beach, and then took a short trail up to Discovery Boulevard Road and then got on the South Beach Trail and stopped a couple of times when there was a break in the trees to take in the view of the Puget Sound.

Start of the South Beach Trail

Heading up the South Beach Trail

Viewing platform on the South Beach Trail

I merged onto the Loop Trail, and chose one of the many paths meandering through the open meadow, eventually passing through the Capehart Forest. By this point, the hike had taken longer than I planned for, so I upped the pace and briskly walked back on Texas Way to Loop Trail to Kansas Ave and finally to the car.

Although a little longer than I planned, it was a great hike. Fort Lawton Breach is a cool place, and one I plan on spending more time at. Not being able to drive there keeps the people to a minimum, at least on weekdays outside of summer. The North Beach trail is okay, it does provide some nice views of the Sound, but it’s not a trail I will be rushing to do again - can’t put my finger on why that is...

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on this trip report · Nov 2021

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Discovery Park Beach Trails

At a Glance

Why Go

Route & Map