Location: West Seattle
Address: 1702 Alki Ave. S.W.
Acreage: 135.9
Alki Beach Park is the place to take your California-transplanted friends when they’re whining about being homesick. One glance at the long stretch of sand and boardwalk-style running and biking path, and they’ll be cured.
Just don’t plan on getting a parking spot on a sunny afternoon.
It often seems like the entire population of Seattle dumps onto this long stretch of park on a hot summer day. Car stereos boom with rap lyrics, high schoolers cruise at 3 m.p.h., ultra-tan volleyball players set up for pick-up games, kids wade in the freezing Puget Sound, groups of moms run with giant strollers, people walk dogs that bear a frighteningly close resemblance to themselves and roller bladers whiz by skating backwards faster than I can bike forwards. It’s a great place to see a cross-section of society.
There’s so much to do on Alki, you never run out of activities.
You can rent bikes, including some strange-looking cycles that can hold an entire family. The walking path is a wonderful place to stroll and is separated from the “wheels” lane to protect you from the aforementioned bladers. Alki is one of only a couple of Seattle parks where you are allowed to have bonfires in the fire pits that are scattered across the beach.
You can also just take in the views of the islands, mountains and even parts of downtown Seattle from various spots along the park or from one of the bars, restaurants or coffee shops that line the street opposite the beach.
Locals may grumble about losing their neighborhood in the summer, but there is something exciting about Alki Beach on a sunny Seattle day.
#15 (Visited 8/18/09)