We arrived at the Discovery Park Visitor center parking lot around 11:40 am on a Wednesday and were happy to find that it wasn't full! We found the trailhead at the edge of the parking lot. There were plenty of maps available to take, that was handy!
We intended to do the loop trail, south beach trail, north trail, and back on the loop trail.
We started out on the loop trail and passed through lovely forest trails and also walked past some parking lots. We passed by some beautiful fields and beside the bluffs along Shilshole bay. The views were amazing! My kids spotted a few hawks flying around and a bald eagle.
We arrived at the south beach trail and walked down a lot of stairs to Discovery Blvd (road) which took us to the beach. There were a lot of lookout platforms in the forest on the way down.
The beach was the perfect place for a lunch picnic. The shore was littered with driftwood and we saw many fun looking forts built with logs. After lunch we headed toward the lighthouse for a quick look around.
We were going to head up the north beach trail and back to the loop trail but my kid needed to use a bathroom, do we headed back the way we came up the trail beside Discovery blvd. After a quick stop at the bathroom (there were plenty of bathrooms throughout the park) we headed up the hill deciding it was best to take the quickest route back as everyone was getting tired. It was a lot of elevation in a short distance, but my 5 year old was a trooper and only stopped once for a water break at an aptly placed bench.
The Blvd trail was pleasant, even for being right beside the road. As we were hiking we saw a coyote cross the road and a rabbit running in the bushes. We hiked past the historic district and passed near the radar tower.
Once we got back to the visitor center we decided to check out the playground. It was a really nice one! On the way my kids caught a garter snake to look at for a bit before letting him go.
A longer hike than my littlest was used to, but very scenic and a lovely park. There is so much to see and it looks like there were many more trails we didn't explore. We'd love to come back again.
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