Golden Gardens Park

Golden Gardens Park provides picnic, beach, playground and hiking opportunities in the "Sunset Hill" part of north Ballard in Seattle, Washington.

The park is bisected by the BNSF Railway railway tracks (referred to as the "Burlington Northern" tracks) that provide the primary rail route along the West Coast of the United States. The lower portion of the park includes parking lots, picnic and play areas, as well as a marsh, dunes, a large grassy field, and a sandy beach on Puget Sound, with views of the Olympic Mountains across the Sound. Above the tracks are more picnic areas and parking lots and a sloping forest with areas level enough to hike. Most visitors approach the park by one of two routes, one of which is unusable as of December 2007. The park can be accessed from the south by traveling along the water from Ballard's commercial district past the Hiram M. Chittenden Locks, then along Seaview Avenue NW, which runs parallel to and west of the BNSF tracks along Puget Sound along Shilshole Bay, past the Port of Seattle's Shilshole Bay Marina, to the park.

Cars could also travel west on NW 85th Street and descend through the park on Golden Gardens Drive NW—whose hairpin turns descend a steep wooded hillside with deep ravines—or by a pedestrian trail. The road and the trail pass under the BNSF Railway's main line. Part of the road was wiped out by mudslides in a December 3 2007 storm, and the road is currently closed. Golden Gardens Drive NW, a steep winding road, is not recommended for RVs and longbed trucks.

The forest character of Golden Gardens Drive NW is similar to several other roads in Seattle, including parts of Lake Washington Boulevard that also have hairpin turns, the several roads and former roads through Interlaken Park on North Capitol Hill, or the entrance to Carkeek Park about a mile further north along the Sound.

Recreation

The lower portion of the park is divided between wetland marsh and beach, and situated north of Shilshole Bay Marina. Golden Gardens is most often used for picnics with a view, for hikes on the beach, and as a playground for dog owners.

The water itself is too cold to swim, but sailing, kayaking, and canoeing are popular. Kitesurfing and sailboarding are also common, on windy days, as are other wind-driven sports. The Sound is cut off from the open ocean for more than a hundred miles, and the islands in the distance prevent most severe nautical weather.

Golden Gardens is well known for the birds that live or migrate there:

* Mallard ducks live in the wetlands
* Wood ducks are less common here, but make occasional appearances
* Seagulls
* Red winged blackbirds, pictured below, love marsh lands
* Canada geese are often seen in the parking lot and near picnic areas
* Eagles fish here, although they're far from an every day sighting.

The mallards and Canada geese are tame, and have learned to expect food from visitors. Members of these two species have frightened small children by walking right up to them looking for a handout.

Sea lions are often heard, and occasionally seen lounging on the buoys or pen just outside the marina breakwater.

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