North Creek Walk

Getting There

From Seattle, ride Sound Transit 510 /512 to South Everett Park and Ride.

The Hike

Walk south from the park and ride to 112 Street SE. Walk west over the freeway bridge, then go south on Silver Lake Road. Soon, you will arrive at the huge parking lot next to Thornton A. Sullivan Park, which offers access to a beach on Silver Lake, along with restrooms and other facilities. Walk south along the lake shore and enjoy the view east over the large lake toward Glacier Peak and other high peaks of the Cascade Mountains. To the west of the lake shore is a forested area with a Frisbee disc golf course; near a dilapidated barn-like structure is a gate in a fence where you can get back to Silver Lake Road.

From the park, continue south on Silver Lake Road a quarter mile, then walk west on Andrew Slater Road. Soon, you will reach 10th Drive SE. Walk south along this residential street for about a mile, then go east on Elgin Way, which soon reaches busy 128 Street SE. Cross it to reach McCollum Park and a bus station near a park-and-ride lot.

Find the start of the North Creek Trail just to the south of the bus shelter on the other side of a driveway. This paved trail is a bit of a mixed experience, wilderness-wise. To the east, you can usually see apartment buildings and other structures; to the west of the trail there is a lovely forest preserved along the course of North Creek. Overall, the trail provides a pleasant walking route that is popular with the locals.

Continue walking the trail two miles on its winding, south-bound route. Eventually the trail turns east to reach the town of Mill Creek's Main Street and artificially created downtown. Here's your chance to get a coffee or dine out at one of the many restaurants on Main Street. When done with this, head south a short distance on Main Street to the start of the next segment of the North Creek Trail. This final half mile of the trail is much like the earlier segment, with the woods of North Creek on one side and buildings on the other. Next to a pond, the trail turns east to finally end at Main Street.

Walk south on Main Street and cross busy 164th Street at a stoplight. Continue walking south on 9th Avenue SE which becomes increasingly residential as you proceed along it. In a mile, the street ends and you arrive at North Creek Park, a vast marshy plain fed by the waters of North Creek. A unique boardwalk trail takes you south through the park. The boardwalk is built on floats and sometimes rocks and rolls like you were walking on a boat. At the south end of the park, the trail ends at a developed area with restrooms, parking lot, and playground.

You're close to the end now. To get to the Swift Green Line stop on the Bothell-Everett Highway, walk east on 183rd Street to the entrance to the Bailey Farm apartment complex. Weave your way on the driveways north and east through the complex. Eventually you will reach at street at the north end of the complex that leads directly to the intersection of 180th Street and the highway. A Swift stop is located there.

Getting Back

Ride the Swift Green Line southbound to the end of the line at Canyon Park Park-and-Ride. From there, Sound Transit 532/ 535 goes to downtown Bellevue Transit Center, where you can catch frequent buses back to Seattle.