Most people drive past Lake Washington without realizing it’s 22 miles long

Lake Washington’s size will catch you off guard

Lake Washington sits right between Seattle and Bellevue, and most people who haven’t been there have no idea how big it is. Twenty-two miles long, 22,000 acres, carved out by glaciers 12,000 years ago.

You can swim, fish, bike, paddle, or just sit on a park bench and watch seaplanes lift off the water. This lake does a lot, and it does all of it within a short drive of downtown Seattle.

A glacier dug this lake 12,000 years ago

The lake runs 22 miles from Kenmore at the north end down to Renton in the south, with Seattle on the west side and Bellevue and Kirkland on the east.

At its deepest point, the water drops 214 feet into a muddy glacial bottom. Mercer Island, a full city of its own, sits right in the middle.

Washington state has only one natural lake bigger than this one, and that’s Lake Chelan, nearly 200 miles to the east.

The Duwamish fished here long before Seattle existed

People have been pulling fish from this lake for thousands of years.

The Duwamish lived along these shores and used the lake’s waterways for food and travel long before any city existed here. Thomas Mercer suggested the name Lake Washington in 1854, after George Washington.

Then in the 1960s, after decades of runoff and wastewater dumping, locals nicknamed it “Lake Stinko.” A major cleanup effort rerouted the wastewater by 1968, and the lake recovered fast.

On a good day now, you can see 17 to 20 feet down through the water.

The world’s longest floating bridge crosses right here

Three floating bridges span Lake Washington, and they float because the lake is too deep and its bottom too soft for traditional supports.

The longest of the three is the Evergreen Point Floating Bridge, which carries State Route 520 across 7,710 feet of open water. It’s also the widest floating bridge in the world, at 116 feet across at its midpoint.

Seventy-seven concrete pontoons anchored with steel cables hold it in place. It opened in April 2016 and has a multi-use path on its north side for cyclists and walkers.

Old-growth trees over 250 years old grow inside Seattle

Seward Park sits on a 300-acre peninsula on the lake’s southwest shore, and about 120 of those acres hold one of the last old-growth forests left inside Seattle city limits.

Douglas firs older than 250 years grow here, and if you take the interior trails, you’re walking in actual forest, not a manicured park. Bald eagles and pileated woodpeckers move through the canopy.

The paved 2.4-mile loop around the peninsula gives you views of Mount Rainier, Mercer Island, and the lake on almost every side.

A Navy air base left behind fins and singing steel towers

Warren G. Magnuson Park stretches across 350 acres and a full mile of shoreline, making it Seattle’s second-largest park.

The land was once a Naval Air Station called Sand Point, and the Navy didn’t fully leave until 1975. More than 20 Art Deco brick buildings from the 1930s and 1940s still stand in the park’s historic district.

Walk to the Fin Project and you’ll find diving planes from decommissioned nuclear submarines set into the ground like black fins rising from the earth.

Nearby, the Sound Garden’s 12 steel towers use the wind to produce low, shifting musical tones.

Bike 20 flat miles along the water on the Burke-Gilman Trail

The Burke-Gilman Trail runs more than 20 miles from Ballard in Seattle up to Bothell, hugging the lake’s northern and western shoreline the whole way.

It follows an old railroad route that opened as a trail in 1978, one of the earliest urban rail trails in the country.

The surface is paved and almost entirely flat, so walkers, runners, cyclists, and inline skaters all use it. Along the way you’ll pass Gas Works Park, the University of Washington campus, and Magnuson Park.

At Bothell, the Sammamish River Trail picks up and carries you another 10 miles to Redmond.

Nine lifeguarded beaches keep the summer crowds happy

Seattle maintains nine lifeguarded swimming beaches on Lake Washington during summer, and each one has a slightly different feel.

Madison Park has a 400-foot sandy beach and views of the floating bridge and the Cascade Mountains. Madrona Park has a wooded hillside that slopes down to a grassy shoreline.

Magnuson Park’s beach tends to sit on calmer water because of where it sits on the north side of the lake, which makes it a good spot for families and beginner paddleboarders.

Free swim lessons run at all nine beaches for kids ages 6 to 16.

Salmon, bass, and trout are all in here year-round

Lake Washington is open for fishing 365 days a year, and the variety of species makes it worth coming back in different seasons.

Cutthroat trout, largemouth bass, smallmouth bass, yellow perch, and black crappie are the regulars.

Sockeye, coho, and Chinook salmon return on a seasonal schedule, and you can watch them climb the fish ladder at the Ballard Locks.

Public fishing piers at Seward Park, Gene Coulon Memorial Beach Park in Renton, and several docks in Kirkland give you easy water access. You’ll need a valid Washington State fishing license.

Rent a kayak on Union Bay or take a sailing class

The lake’s size makes it good for kayaking and sailing, and there are several ways to get on the water without owning a boat.

The University of Washington runs a rental facility on Union Bay where you can pick up a canoe or kayak by the hour.

Sail Sand Point, a nonprofit based at Magnuson Park, runs affordable sailing classes for adults and teens. For motorized boats, Gene Coulon Memorial Beach Park in Renton has an eight-lane launch ramp.

On select Sundays from May through September, a stretch of Lake Washington Boulevard closes to cars so cyclists can take over the road.

Mercer Island has 135 bird species and a beach you can swim from

Mercer Island sits in the southern half of the lake and connects to the mainland via the I-90 floating bridges, so getting there is easy.

Luther Burbank Park covers 77 acres on the island’s northeast tip with three-quarters of a mile of waterfront.

Most of the park stays undeveloped on purpose, and 135 bird species have been spotted here, along with beavers, muskrats, and tree frogs.

Three miles of trails move through forest, meadows, and wetlands with almost no elevation change. There’s also a swimming beach, a fishing pier, and an off-leash dog area with direct lake access.

Renton’s waterfront park has 4,000 feet of restored shoreline

Gene Coulon Memorial Beach Park sits at the lake’s southeast corner in Renton, covering 57 acres along 4,000 feet of restored natural waterfront with marshes and native plants along the edge.

The park packs in a lot: an eight-lane boat launch, a 900-foot waterwalk pier with picnic floats, a fishing pier, a swimming beach, tennis courts, volleyball courts, and horseshoe pits.

An interpretive botanical walk runs along the shore if you want to put names to the plants you’re walking past. It’s a full afternoon on its own.

Mount Rainier and the Cascades frame every view on the lake

On a clear day, Mount Rainier rises above the southern horizon from nearly every park and beach on the lake. The Cascade Mountains run along the eastern skyline, and the Seattle skyline climbs up to the west.

The eastern shore, especially around Kirkland’s waterfront and Mercer Island, catches the sunset in a way that’s hard to find anywhere else in the region.

Add seaplanes lifting off from Kenmore Air Harbor at the north end, and there’s always something moving across the view whether you’re out on the water or sitting on a bench onshore.

Get out on Lake Washington in King County, Washington

Lake Washington runs through King County between Seattle and Bellevue, with access points spread across multiple cities.

Major entry points include Seward Park and Magnuson Park in Seattle, Madison Park and Madrona Park along the west shore, Gene Coulon Memorial Beach Park in Renton, and Luther Burbank Park on Mercer Island.

The Burke-Gilman Trail connects many of these spots by bike or foot. Most parks are open daily from dawn to dusk.

Parking is free at most locations, though busy summer weekends fill up fast, so plan to arrive early.

This article was created with AI assistance and human editing.

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