Very obvious spring has come to Seattle! I discovered this cute garden two years ago and thought today would be a nice day to see how it was doing, especially when I was going to be in the area visiting Seahurst Park as well. This is a very nice spot for families with littles or people with mobility limitations to visit. Only downside was noise from the planes above, but maybe not for aircraft enthusiasts. The highlights for me today were the Seike Japanese Garden and Elda’s Paradise Garden areas. Petals from blooming plums were already fluttering down to the ground. I only ended up doing a mile and less than 100 ft of elevation gain here, although there are dirt roads or paths to the west in a green belt area that one could hike for more miles. Or, visit nearby Seahurst Park…details in a separate trip report. Lovely day!

The Highline SeaTac Botanical Garden is the home of two historic gardens, Elda Behm's Paradise Garden and the Seike Japanese Garden. The garden is open daily from 8:00 AM to 7:00 PM and admission is free. Besides these 2 gardens there is a formal rose garden, a small fuchsia species area, an Iris area, a pea patch and other flowers in season. The garden is only 12 minutes from our home so it was a good choice on this beautiful but cold day for a short outing. If you live in White Center, Burien, Des Moines, Sea Tac or Normandy Park, it is a nice area to enjoy a variety of plants in their season of growth. We were too late for peak fall bloom, but a few leaves remain on some of the maples. The Ginko tree had lost its leaves, but their yellow leaves on the ground, rocks and in the pond near the tree added a nice yellow color to the Japanese Garden. I will add links below describing the 2 historic gardens. The one negative factor is that the garden is under the flight pattern for Sea Tac Airport!

I took my working dog out yesterday for a nice walk around the trails - not really in the botanical garden part of the park, more in what is labelled as "Sunset Park" on the map. There's really not an option on WTA to write about those trails specifically, so here we are. I started at the track/Pat Ryan field and walked into the trees to the southwest of it, making a loop along the perimeter to the west. The trail was in good condition and there wasn't as much litter as I was expecting, considering the area, but there was some. The path was shady and most of it was under tree cover - much appreciated on a hot day.

As I circled around toward the north and back toward the botanical garden area, there were several places where I had to cross caution tape because they were setting up for a BMX race. I do wish they wouldn't do that until right before race time because it's a PITA to cross, especially with a dog, but it is what it is. Be aware that it's something you could encounter if this isn't a place you walk regularly. Also, quite a few people let their dogs off leash throughout the park, even though it's illegal to do so, and I've had some dodgy experiences with dogs here in the past.

North SeaTac Park is in my neighborhood so it is pretty familiar to me.  Over the years I have walked or bicycled thru the park many times and even cross country skied there when conditions were snowy.  For this hike I kind of circumnavigated the park, using bike paths, mountain bike trails and cutting across the Frisbee golf course.  I also spent some time in the Highline Botanical Garden, a favorite short walk for my wife and myself.

For those not familiar with North SeaTac Park, it was once a neighborhood of houses until in the 1970’s when the Port Authority bought out the whole area and removed the houses.  Since then it has become a beacon for all sorts of recreational groups.  The City of SeaTac built a community center there and has developed the northern half of the park (between S 136^th and S 128^th streets) into ballfields, playgrounds and walking/bike paths.  They also put in a Frisbee golf course in this part.  The southern portion (between S 144^th and S 136^th streets) also had sports fields and a set of tennis courts that were left over from the middle school that was closed as the airport expanded.  These are still there, with one of them used for rugby.  Meanwhile the old streets were blocked off but still run thru the area and have become a favorite spot for mountain biking, with lots of interconnecting trails between the roads.  More recently a rough BMX track has been expanded into a competition-level track and includes some RC car tracks and a “pump bike” track. 

Also, the area next to the community center (just off 24^th Ave S) has become the Highline Botanical Garden and the home of several transplanted older gardens from the area.  This includes the Seike Japanese Garden which was originally built just north of the airport but was moved to accommodate the third runway.  That garden is a real gem with an interesting history and I have included a link at the bottom for anyone interested. 

On my hike I wanted to go around the whole park, taking advantage of some of the social trails (mountain bike trails, mostly) where I could find them to avoid the more familiar paths.  In the southern part of the park I tried a couple trails that might go thru in the summer, but were flooded this time of the year, so I had to backtrack to the outer bike path and the shoulder of S 144th street.  On one of those I found the lovely red blossoms on an old flowering quince.  I cut thru the mtn bike trails to the gardens and walked around them.   That’s where the Japanese garden is.  I have included some pictures from that part of the garden to show how nice it is.  The rest of the garden areas were not quite in season.  Several flowering trees were already starting to fade and the rhododendrons, roses, peonies, and iris gardens are not yet blooming.  I did find a quiet path that included bunches of hellebores and trilliums, including the ones I included below. 

Finishing the loop I clocked 4.25 miles and a bit over 200 feet of gain.

Spent half an hour wandering around here this morning. It's still early season, but some plants are already in bloom. A bald eagle was collecting nesting material. Few people, and peaceful (apart from the aircraft overhead).