Duwamish Hill Preserve, Green River Trail — Tuesday, Mar. 4, 2025

Today I wanted to visit the Duwamish Hill Preserve in Tukwila.  I've been several times before, but thought I should make a longer hike out of it.  Started from the Cecil Moses Park and followed the Green River Trail to where it passes under the light rail line.  From there it was a simple matter of crossing the river on the E. Marginal Way bridge.  This brought me to the Duwamish Garden Park and then the Duwamish Hill Preserve.  There was a great article in the Seattle Times Pacific NW Magazine on Sunday that describes some of the history of this area (linked below).

The Green River Trail is a paved walk/bike path that follows the Duwamish thru Tukwila and then continues beside the Green River all the way to Kent.  I only went a little under a mile before shifting onto E Marginal Way.  Along the way there is a mural, where the trail passes under Pacific Highway S., that was painted in 2021.  For a few years the mural celebrated various communities' relationships to the rivers.  Unfortunately, it has now been tagged in several places.  More importantly, though, work to improve the river shoreline for migrating salmon and waterfowl can be seen as you walk along. I have included a picture of the map of the river in this area.

The Duwamish Garden Park is a small park that is a good example of that work.  There are several short trails down to the river's edge.  Of course, it's still winter, but in a few months the shrubs along the trails will be in bloom.  For now, there was just the start of some mahonia buds starting.  

The Duwamish Hill Preserve has two parts. There is the hill itself, where native people would keep watch for visitors (or invading war parties) coming up the river, and then there is a Cultural Garden section on the level.  Currently everything in the garden's mounds is fallow, but when spring arrives there will be native plants, along with interpretive signs.  The garden also features a large circular artwork depicting the seasons and associated harvests.  

The hill climb starts out gentle but then gets a bit steeper with stair steps up to the top (I counted 85 steps).  There are many madronas along the way and lots of nice, green moss.  I am a sucker for moss, ferns and madronas, so I included several pictures of them.  There was not much of a view today because it was raining when I was there.  Still a nice place to visit.

Totals, including the Green River Trail and wandering through gardens and up the hill, were 4.4 miles and 160 feet of gain.  

More Information on this Trip Report

• https://www.seattletimes.com/pacific-nw-magazine/ancient-wa-tribal-stories-still-hold-powerful-truths-for-us-all/