The 10 Best Local Adventures

The Center for Wooden Boats is a great place to rent a boat on a hot summer day. At the Livery, they rent out all kinds of wooden boats, from sailboats to rowboats to canoes and even wooden kayaks! These boats are available to take out on Lake Union. Another fun aspect of the Center is that they have a quaint museum that I believe is free to visit, and it’s also near MOHAI (the Museum of History and Industry), which is an amazing place to check out if you haven’t already!

Swimming is one of my favorite things to do in the summer, and in Seattle, there are lots of great places to swim! I like to swim at unofficial beaches in the summer because they’re not as crowded as the official ones; a couple places I really enjoy include Green Lake, Lake Sammamish, Lake Washington (Matthews Beach and Magnuson Park in Seattle or Houghton Beach Park in Kirkland), and even Puget Sound (Golden Gardens, Alki Beach, etc.), but really, any place is great!

There are parks all over the place in the greater Seattle area. Most of them are perfect for sunny days because they’re forested and provide shade. They’re also pretty versatile places to walk, trail run, or simply enjoy nature! Some of my favorites to visit are Carkeek Park in North Seattle, St. Edward State Park in Kenmore, and Seward Park in South Seattle. Seward Park is really fun for a rollerblade or bike ride on the perimeter trail.

The Japanese Garden in the Arboretum is a fun place to explore! There’s a big koi pond in the center of the garden and a boardwalk that cuts through it. Koi food is sold at the ticket booths by the entrance, and visitors can even feed the fish from the boardwalk! This garden also has frequent events, such as tea ceremonies and photography workshops. In addition, since the Japanese Garden is near the arboretum, there’s always more to explore once you’re done with the Japanese Garden!

The Cedar River Trail is an excellent paved path that stretches for seventeen miles. The trail follows the Cedar River for the first few miles, but hits the Renton-Maple Valley Highway after a while. I recommend the start of the trail for running, walking, biking, or anything else that’s fun to do on a paved trail. If the Cedar River Trail is too far of a drive for you, I’d also recommend the Burke-Gilman or Sammamish River Trails, which are both pretty similarly paved and, though they’re less remote-looking, still pretty scenic. A fun fact about the area is that the Cedar River is the source of much of Seattle’s water! (To find which water source you drink from,check out this Seattle Times article: Which Seattle Water Source Do You Drink From?)

Inner tubing, which is essentially floating down a river in an inflatable chair, is an amazing activity for hot days in the summer. Fall City Floating is an inner tube rental store and shuttle service on the Snoqualmie River. The Snoqualmie River has a few more splashy spots, but on the whole, it’s pretty calm and great for beginners. Plus, there’s a spot on the river where a couple of big logs hang overhead, making it a great spot to stop and swim! Sometimes the river can get a little busy for inner tubing, but most of the time it’s not too crowded and is much less busy than most inner tubing spots.

Friday Harbor is a great spot to visit at any time of year! It’s a city of about 2,700 on San Juan Island, a ferry ride away from Anacortes. I’d recommend parking at the ferry dock and being a walk-on passenger on the ferry to save parking challenges at Friday Harbor. (It can get pretty busy there, and it’s fun to walk around the area rather than driving!) Friday Harbor is full of cute restaurants and stores and has a little grassy park y the ferry docks called Fairweather Park. For those who are into art, there’s also a really cool museum called The San Juan Islands Museum of Art, which showcases local artists! As an added perk, while Friday Harbor is my favorite spot in the San Juans, most of the islands in the area are accessible by ferry and also really fun to visit, including Orcas Island and Lopez Island!

Coal Creek is a great spot to hike in any season. The trails go through the forested Cougar Mountain Regional Wildland Park, which makes them shaded and pleasant in the summer, and along the way are some stunning views of the Coal Creek waterfall. Plus, you’ll pass old mining equipment and some informational plaques because the park is located near an old coal mine.

Jetty Island is really great for an easy paddle or ferry ride from Everett. The paddle between the boat launch and the island is only about a thousand feet and has calm water because it’s sheltered; any boat is a great option to get to the island, and I’d even recommend trying your own boat on a Monday or Tuesday in the summer since the island isn’t too busy then. If you’d prefer to take a ferry, however, it runs on Wednesdays through Sundays in the summer and is also great!

Vashon is a beautiful place to bike, since the area near the ferry dock is relatively rural. Ferries go from both Southworth (Kitsap) and Fauntleroy (West Seattle) to get there, and being a bike-on passenger has been a fun experience for me. Though the whole area is great, if you’re one for thrills, try Burma Rd SW. The road is like a rollercoaster, and it's full of exhilarating hills! My favorite way to get to it is to bike up the center of the island from the ferry dock (Vashon Hwy SW) and turn onto SW Cedarhurst after a few miles. After that, Burma Rd is the first turnoff.