Golden Gardens Park

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Looking toward Shilshole Bay Marina from the beachfront picnic area.

A paraglider practices in the dunes; The forested upper portion of the park can be seen in the background, as can the old bathhouse (at right), an official Seattle landmark.^[1]

Golden Gardens Park is a park located in the north part of the Ballard Neighborhood of Seattle, Washington, an area also known as "Sunset Hill".

The park is bisected by the BNSF Railway railway tracks (usually referred to locally as the "Burlington Northern" tracks) that provide the primary rail route along the West Coast of the United States. The lower portion of the park includes parking lots, picnic and play areas, as well as a marsh, dunes, a large grassy field, and a sandy beach on Puget Sound, with views of the Olympic Mountains across the Sound. Above the tracks are more picnic areas and parking lots and a sloping forest with areas level enough to hike.

Most visitors approach the park by one of two routes, one of which is currently unusable as of December 2007. The park can currently be accessed from the south by traveling along the water from Ballard's commercial district past the Hiram M. Chittenden Locks, then along Seaview Avenue NW, which runs parallel to and west of the BNSF tracks along Puget Sound along Shilshole Bay, past the Port of Seattle's Shilshole Bay Marina, to the park.

Normally, cars could also travel west on NW 85th Street and descend through the park on Golden Gardens Drive NW—whose hairpin turns descend a steep wooded hillside with deep ravines—or by a pedestrian trail. The road and the trail each pass under the BNSF Railway's main line. Part of the road was wiped out by mudslides in a December 3, 2007 storm, and the road is currently closed. Even in good times, Golden Gardens Drive NW, a steep and windy road, is not recommended for RVs and longbed trucks.

The forest character of Golden Gardens Drive NW is similar to several other roads in Seattle, including parts of Lake Washington Boulevard that also have hairpin turns, the several roads and former roads through Interlaken Park on North Capitol Hill, or the entrance to Carkeek Park about a mile further north along the Sound.

[edit] Recreation

Shown above is a freshwater marsh near the north end of the park in foreground and the salt water of Puget Sound in background.

A flutist exploits the echoes of a tunnel under the Burlington Northern railway connecting the waterfront park to upper Golden Gardens.

The lower portion of the park is divided between wetland marsh and beach, and situated north of Shilshole Bay Marina. Because of these factors, Golden Gardens is most often used for picnics with a view, for hikes on the beach, and as a playground for dog owners.

The water itself is generally too cold to swim, but it's very common to see people sailing, kayaking, and canoeing in the Puget Sound waters. Kitesurfing and sailboarding are also common, on especially windy days, as are other wind-driven sports. The Sound is cut off from the open ocean for more than a hundred miles, and the islands in the distance prevent severe nautical weather except during storms.

Golden Gardens is particularly well known for the birds that live or migrate there:

Mallard ducks live in the wetlands; this is essentially a duck pond
Wood ducks are less common here, but make occasional appearances
Seagulls
Red winged blackbirds, pictured below, love marsh lands and find plenty of them in Golden Gardens
Canada geese are very often seen in the parking lot and near picnic areas
Eagles fish here, although they're far from an every day sighting.

The mallards and Canada geese are particularly tame, and have learned to expect food from visitors. Rarely, members of these two species have frightened small children by walking right up to them looking for a handout.

Sea lions are often heard, but rarely seen, from the shore. Actually, they are often seen. Either sticking their heads up in the water or lounging on the buoys or pen just outside the marina breakwater.