Paid $3 for parking at the north campus entrance station, and spent an hour exploring the SSC Campus Arboretum, the Seattle Chinese Garden, and hiking a short loop in the West Duwamish Greenbelt. Expected city park conditions, but trails in the Greenbelt were barely established, and very muddy. Came across a newish-looking discarded bike (see linked photo album). Only encountered a couple of people, all near the Seattle Chinese Garden. The courtyard was closed, but you could peek inside.

A buddy at work turned me on to a book recently, “Seattle Walks” by David B Williams.  While most of the excursions are decidedly urban, one in particular covers not one, not two but three trails that WTA has written up - the northern section of the Longfellow Creek Legacy Trail, Puget Park and the Seattle Chinese Garden.  We walked this loop Sunday morning starting at the Delridge Community Center. The basic description is as follows - from the Community Center north along the Longfellow Creek trail, east along Andover, south along 23rd then 21st where Puget Park is, further east on SW Dawson then south on 16th to the Seattle Chinese garden, back west along SW Graham (and it’s pedestrian stairways) a quick sidestep along Delridge to avoid posted no trespassing at the Louisa Borren school property then back north along a southern piece of the Longfellow Creek trail.  Mr. Williams book has a much better description, map and a bunch of super interesting historical info too - go pick up a copy if you are interested. The basic loop is about 4 and a half miles, our extra wanderings around Puget Park and the Chinese Garden added probably another 1.5 - 2.  

Puget Park - we accessed Puget Park from a trail marked West Duwamish Green Belt Trails.  This area also seems to be referred to as Pigeon Point as well. Whatever you call it, these are a nice little collection of trails in the green space between the bluff of West Seattle and the Duwamish Waterway.  Some are maintained and nicely brushed back, some others less so. There are several large fireweed meadows in bloom right now that are pretty spectacular. After wandering around for a bit we popped back out onto 21st and headed south.  No noticeable facilities, parking along 21st Ave SW as close as you can get to one of the gates in the chainlink that provide access to the green belt.

Seattle Chinese Garden - both the Chinese garden and the South Seattle College arboretum are really very beautiful.  Less of a walk than a comfortable stroll through gardens. The main walled garden area was closed early this morning but all the other areas were open.  After walking south through the rest of the campus there are a few more woodsy trails again marked West Duwamish Green Belt which eventually put you back onto 16th Ave SW.  Parking available right in front of the gardens after going in the north entrance to South Seattle College.  

Longfellow Creek Legacy Trail - after wandering west along the SW Graham St and pedestrian stairs and crossing we came back to Longfellow Creek.  The trail is market with somewhat cryptic placard signage, colored images of flora and fauna in the area - but once you see one it is pretty easy to get the hang of it.  The trail, with a few jigjags runs north back up to the West Seattle Golf Course and then follows the sidewalk along 26th back to the Delridge Community Center. Note - there are a couple small and well hidden encampments of folks down on their luck currently along the trail.  No facilities along this entire northern stretch.  

A beautiful walk all through the Longfellow Creek drainage with a bunch to see.

https://wdgtrails.wordpress.com/seattle-parks-maps/

https://nhwa.org/uploads/file/longfellow_creek_trail_map.pdf

http://seattlechinesegarden.org/

I would say  the Chinese Garden itself is more of a very basic short stroll. It is more suitable to grab a book and read or have a picnic. There are two structures where you can sit and relax, and a very short gravel walk, think 10-15 min. But the Chinese Garden is right next to and has a connecting path with the Arboretum which offers a much longer paved walk-way. 

The Chinese Garden is cute but nothing big or fancy. If you combine it with the Arboretum you can easily spend an hour here. Both are more of a stroll than a hike. I would recommend it if your in the area or live nearby and want some peace and quiet outside on the weekend. 

Good for all ages and easy to do. 

We came here after the Arboretum with little previous knowledge.  I think the big things to note are that it's a work in progress, and much of the grounds have not really been planted or developed as a garden. It's hard to find a map online, and the one we found may have been a rendering of what the final product will look like  Either way, it does have some open space to roam, although it may feel like you're walking on a lawn, surrounded by weeds and blackberry bushes at times.  At other times you're wandering through bamboo forests, discovering 100-year old Thai sculptures and lily ponds.  Size-wise the undeveloped part constitutes a larger portion, and it doesn't take long to make your way through the developed part.  I don't want to recommend not visiting, but i do want to manage expectations.  Check it out and see for yourself!

#hikingthestate

We enjoyed an easy meandering hike through the extensive grounds of the Seattle Chinese Garden on a mild, partly cloudy Saturday. No problem parking, tons of it available. Peonies, rhododendrons, and roses were in full bloom. We enjoyed the many themed gardens, including the acer garden and the conifer garden to name a couple, as well as the many Chinese structures, of which the largest is the beautiful "Knowing the Spring" courtyard. The gardens had several ponds which were mostly dry or almost dry - not sure why they lacked water. But it did not spoil the overall hiking and we found both groomed trails through carefully planted gardens as well as paths through the wild woods. We were lucky to be hiking on a day when the garden center was having a sale, and so were able to end our outing by purchasing some plants. We will have to go back and explore some more.