Let’s start walking …….

people walkingHas someone mentioned New Year’s resolutions to you? When listening to TV or radio stations in the past week, it has been hard not to hear someone chirp about or mention getting more exercise in this new year.  Where does one begin? I have heard before to start small and be realistic. I would look out of place in a fitness room, so I am going to think about ….. walking.

Being an organized, urbanite librarian, I google “seattle exercise walking.” The first link is a site called See Seattle Why Walk? which shares ten compelling reasons to walk. I like #9. Walking Increases Your Energy Level.  Another link is to a King5.com article from October 22, 2009 entitled “Walking can do a lot for your body.”   I’ve seen most of this info before. What I really need are suggestions of where to walk locally. 

Somwalking 01.06.10e friends say often to me “let’s go around Green Lake”. I’ve gone with them and enjoyed it a lot but there must be other places?! I next search “seattle walks” in the SPL online catalog. 6 Seattle Walks by Duse McLean and Joan Burton shares about urban walks in Seattle’s parks and neighborhoods. I also see Nature Walks In & Around Seattle by Cathy M. McDonald and Stephen R. Whitney. It includes 33 locations with walks for all walking abilities.

 I remember something on the city’s web site about walking around Seattle. Walking Tours is a page of links on the Seattle.gov site. An historic tour of Columbia City is one of the tours available. A friend who moved to that neighborhood recently has mentioned some of these places to me. Also, I attended a recent community meeting where someone from Feet First made a presentation. Their web site reminds me that they are an advocacy group promoting walkable communities.  And it includes lots of maps — “neighborhood on foot” maps, safe routes to schools, active communities.

My realistic goal is to go on a new walk in or around Seattle once a month. Please share  recommended walks and other resources that have helped you plan your walks!

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9 responses to “Let’s start walking …….”

  1. Megan in Wallingford

    I found a couple of books in the library’s catalog last time I was searching for urban walks in Seattle, including the one you mentioned above. I also found a few articles in the Times or PI, I think through Googling “urban hike seattle” or the like, though I’m having a bit of a harder time tracking them down now. I wrote down some good looking walks from that. There is also a web site at EveryTrail.com, where one can search for Seattle and find several suggested walks, runs, bicycle routes, etc. Some are extremely long, but it looks like a good idea for browsing.

    Some of my favorite walks are Alki; Seward Park and then walking along the water North toward Sayres Park; starting at the Center for Urban Horticulture, walking through the Union Bay natural area along Wahkiakum lane, and continuing through UW’s lower campus; and the walk from Mohai across Marsh and Foster Islands and into the Arboretum. Hard to do that last one without getting muddy most times of the year, though.

    Reply
  2. Toby

    A friend of mine got these cards as a gift. It a great set of walking tours in the city!

    Reply
  3. C. Al Currier

    I suggest you try short walks using routes you’ve never been on, to areas that you’ve never been before, then walk back using routes you’ve never tried. The less you know about the trip before you start, the more exciting it will be, and the more you will have learned, and the more you will remember.
    Also:
    NEVER, NEVER, EVER take a map. A watch is good enough.

    Reply
  4. Callan

    My mom and I do a lot of walking in West Seattle, especially when the weather is nice. Our favorites are Alki and Lincoln Park, which are both right on the water and are beautiful year round. Alki is nice and long, and we walk from both ends of the trail (one end starts at Luna Park, the other at Mekwamooks Park). Lincoln Park’s trails are not as long, but there are many of them so you have lots of options.

    Reply
  5. Marion

    Megan, Toby, C, Callan: thanks for the great suggestions! I am going to add these locations to my plans. I was thinking about mud too. Maybe I’ll write next about all the various types of walking shoes.

    Reply
  6. Audrey

    Maybe this is obvious to everybody else, but as a newcomer to Seattle I was amazed by Cowen Park. You can walk through the park and really feel like you are a thousand miles away from the city – the lovely ravine completely insulates you from the noise, light, and development of the world around it.

    That also means it gets VERY dark down there, so this is a daytime walk only. Also, it’s a pretty short trail. But lovely nonetheless.

    Reply
  7. Joshua Daniel Franklin

    Audrey, I love the Cowen/Ravenna Park trails! For added exercise you can explore the trails up and down the ravine. Seattle has a lot of amazing large tree parks: Schmitz, Volunteer, Discovery, Seward, and the Washington Park Arboretum come to mind. Speaking of the Arboretum, they also do free guided walking tours. Seattle Architecture Foundation does paid guided walks too, which can introduce you to good walking routes and interesting history and architectural details too.

    More ideas: Magnuson Park (so flat that it feels like a different part of the country!), UW campus, Cheslahud Lake Union Loop.

    Also, if you change your SPL search to “Seattle walking” you get a few more books like _Seattle Architecture: A Walking Guide to Downtown_.

    Reply
  8. David W

    One of the odd things about walking Cowen is the occassional bands of druidic creative anachronism people one finds running around in there. That wierd feeling is reinforced by Charles Burns’ graphic novel “Black Hole,” which has some pretty wierd stuff going on in that park: anyone who walks there regularly should give it a read.

    I’ve always felt hugely fortunate to live in the Seward Park area, not just because of the park itself – and talk about feeling miles away from the city, walk through the middle of that sometime – but also the extensive waterfront park stretching up to Mount Baker: walkers bliss, esp in the summer when we have bicycle (and strollers) Sundays, and cars are verboten. You almost want to dress in Edwardian garb and go strolling w/ cane and parasol, it feels so urban/bucolic.

    Reply
  9. Megan in Wallingford

    Oh yeah, Joshua, Magnuson Park is great; and improving, with new trails coming in recently. It’s also a great place to do some wildlife-watching, as are the various walks from the Center for Urban Horticulture along Lake Washington all the way to and through the Arboretum.

    I also did the Cheshiahud Loop last weekend. I wouldn’t say it’s completely finished yet: there are a couple of detours onto sidewalks down among the construction at South Lake Union, and there are no sidewalks on a very narrow street on the east side of the lake. Still, it’s a great walk, fairly flat, and there are plenty of places to stop for a sit-down or a little refreshment.

    Reply

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