Denny Park & Denny Playfield

Location: Downtown/Central Seattle
Address: 100 Dexter Ave.
Acreage: 6.4

I can’t say I was particularly looking forward to going to Denny Park. Located at the edge of downtown Seattle and the South Lake Union neighborhood, I have driven past it hundreds of times, and it always looked like a rundown urban park at a glance.

So, I was pretty excited today to find a park that was much nicer, cleaner and more interesting than I’d expected. I was also pleased to discover that this is Seattle’s oldest park and the original land claimed by David Denny. It was actually intended to be a cemetery, but luckily got turned into a park in 1883 instead.

Resembling a European city park, Denny Park has wide lanes that let you access the park from all corners. This is appropriate since the park sits at a key intersection between main Seattle thoroughfares. It is lined with tall trees that shade the park’s many benches.

I also really liked the unusual playground for kids. Not featuring the typical swings and slides, instead Denny Park has a short zip line, a sand play area, a strange silver ball that I guess is meant to be climbed on and a cool-looking spider web contraption.

As I took one of the wide paths back toward downtown, I scolded myself for letting prejudgements prevent me from visiting this park sooner. I’ll definitely be back.

#63 & 62 (Visited 11/25/09)