Spent my morning at Ravenna Park and thoroughly enjoyed it.  Once you are in the park, the noise of the city almost completely disappears, and you are free to just enjoy nature.  

The two parking lots I came across are pretty tiny, so if you are going at peak times prepare to park on the street.  

Trails are shared with joggers and bike riders, and it seems like many people walked/biked through the park on their way to other places.  Glad to see that they could get a dose of nature along the way.

There were some sketchy people in the park - when I pulled up, two men appeared to be passed out in their car - but I was comforted to see Seattle police patrolling the park.  Found one homeless encampment tucked away off one of the trails.

All in all Ravenna has proved to be one of my favorite urban spots in the Seattle area.  Will definitely return.

This 4.5 miles round trip hike in the heart of urban Seattle is a hidden gem. Right now there are blue bells, white bells, bleeding hearts, mahonia, salmon berry, skunk cabbage, and other flowers blooming all over the creek ravine. The trail can begin at either Cowen Park or at Ravenna Park both just a short ways North of the University of Washington. Several options exist for exploring both the North side or the South side of the Ravine and of course a middle trail that follows the creek straight through. Bikers, runners, strollers, dog walkers, and just plain walkers enjoy this short hike year round. Now that the Spring flowers are blooming and the leaves are filling out on the trees makes it an urban hike worth taking your camera (or you phone camera)with you on the hike.

We started at the Ravenna Park parking area, near 58th St. There was ample parking today but it was midday Monday, so it might be more packed on a sunny Saturday. My husband usually packs our 1.5 year old but it was too nice of a day to pass up so I loaded up the kid and headed out. Any incline encountered here is gentle, and a good chunk of it is stroller-friendly. There is a packed-dirt/gravel trail that runs parallel on either side of the the wide gravel path and adds a slightly more "hiking" feeling. You probably won't do the full 4+ miles if you're sticking to the wide path, as some of the distance comes from the connector trails. It was nicely shaded and would make for a good hike for someone trying to get in shape or wanting to take little kids out without going too far. Cowen Park, at the other end, has a great playground and picnic area. There is also a playground at the opposite end, in Ravenna Park. With some zig-zagging, we managed about 2.75 miles.

When its too rainy to be worth a long drive for a hike, Ravenna Park is a great place to get out and stretch your legs in Seattle and get some exercise. Make sure you take one of the trails down into the gorge, which is where the magic happens in this park. For more information, check out this post. http://www.sendittravel.com/new-blog/2016/1/23/urban-hiking-in-ravenna-park

I didn't want to get stuck in all the mountain snow, (and my trick knee was bugging me,) so we stayed urban and walked a big lollipop loop starting at the south end of Ravenna Park, under I-5 on NE Ravenna Blvd, clockwise around Green Lake then back down through Cowen and Ravenna Parks. Total mileage is a little over 6 ½ with no material elevation gain. Street parking was not a problem on NE 55th St. Ravenna offers some nice urban forest and the work to support native plant life in the park is paying off. The views of both the old steel 20th Ave and art deco concrete 15th Ave bridges from bottom of the gully are neat. Once past Cowen Park, Green Lake is just a quick walk down the tree lined Ravenna Blvd. The lake was teaming with birds today - at least a half dozen species of duck (besides the ever present mallards,) at least two big Herons and the treat of the day was watching a huge adult bald eagle drop from the top of a tree, swoop down and pick what appeared to be a small perch from the water and then fly back up to eat it. Pretty darn amazing stuff given this is smack dab the middle of the city. Lots of folks out taking advantage of the 47 minutes of blue sky we got today - but honestly it's no worse than a busy weekend at Rattlesnake Ledge. If you string these two walks together you can get some decent mileage, nice views and some good wildlife viewing.