This autumn we may not have Halloween parties, fall festivals, and other events to look forward to but we still have the incredible fall foliage in our city’s beautiful parks. Seattle’s parks are home to thousands of trees whose leaves change from green to yellow, yellow to orange, orange to red, red to brown, and fall to the ground. This fall its perfect time to reflect on how that even when life seems stuck, the trees around us continue to change and grow.

Best Seattle parks to see the fall leaves:

*note: because of the dry summer we had in 2021, we may see fall leaves change earlier than in years prior*

West Seattle

Lincoln Park

Hiawatha Playfield

Central Seattle

Seattle Japanese Garden (Best viewing between mid October through the beginning of November) *fee for entry

Washington Park Arboretum (Best viewing late October)

Parsons Garden

Southeast Seattle

Kubota Garden (best viewing Maple trees late September through October)

Lake Washington Boulevard

Columbia Park

Cheasty Blvd

Hunters Blvd

Northeast Seattle

Cowen Park/Ravenna Park

Magnuson Park

Maple Leaf Reservoir Park

Ravenna Boulevard

Northwest Seattle

Green Lake Park

Discovery Park

Salmon Bay Park

Fremont Canal Park

Carkeek Park

Lesser known gems:

35^th Ave NE near Meadowbrook CC (flame ash trees)

125^th St.

Matthew’s Beach Park

17^th Ave

Introducing – Seattle Forest Week – Nov. 6-13, 2021! Join us for a week-long celebration of Seattle’s Urban Forest.

Seattle Forest Week will kick off with Green Seattle Day on November 6th, and finish with Seattle Arbor Day on November 13th, with opportunities for learning, relaxing, and engaging during the week in-between.

Save the date(s) now, and head over to SeattleForestWeek.org to learn more! Event registration links and details will be available in October.

Please Participate!

Seattle Parks and Recreation encourages the community to participate in designing the new play area for Bitter Lake. Please join us at the play area on Saturday, September 18 from 10 a.m. to noon to review the schematic design and provide input on play equipment.  Bitter Lake Play Area is located just south of the community center at 13035 Linden Ave. N. If you are unable to join us in person, please participate by taking this short survey. https://seattle.surveymonkey.com/r/BitterLakePlay

Thank you to everyone who has participated in the public process to date. The design team from Hoshide Wanzer Architects and Berger Partnership incorporated community input into a preferred schematic design and is looking to gather additional feedback on the swings, spinners, and multi-generational fitness and sensory equipment. The project team will be at the park on September 18^th and look forward to explaining the design and collecting your feedback.

The project will provide a renovation to the existing restroom including newly upgraded and accessible all-gender comfort station/restroom, and new play equipment that provides play opportunities for all abilities. In addition, the project will make safety and accessibility improvements that meet the standards from the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA).

For more information please visit https://www.seattle.gov/parks/about-us/current-projects/bitter-lake-playfield-play-area-and-comfort-station-renovation

or contact Katie Bang at katie.bang@seattle.gov or 206-684-9286.

Seattle Parks and Recreation (SPR) is happy to announce we awarded the construction contract to Service Electric Co., Inc. for the lighting replacement project at Ballard Playground Playfield adjacent to the Ballard Community Center at 2644 NW 60^th St.  Construction begins the week of September 6 and will be completed in early 2022. The playfield will be closed during construction.

SPR is invested in installing the highest quality energy-efficient field lighting which minimizes spill light and glare off the field while providing performance recreation light.

A large percentage of the primary improvement project, which included new synthetic turf infield and subsurface field restoration, improving accessibility in compliance with the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) standards, along with field light poles and light replacement, was placed on hold due to COVID-19.  For safety and energy efficiency, SPR is moving the lighting replacement portion of this project forward.

For more information, please visit https://www.seattle.gov/parks/about-us/current-projects/ballard-playground-athletic-field-improvements or contact Peggy Tosdal at peggy.tosdal@seattle.gov.

Seattle Parks and Recreation(SPR) is looking for feedback from the community on the cork infill product used at Bobby Morris Playfield adjacent to Cal Anderson Park, 1635 11 Ave., Seattle, WA 98122. Please take this short survey that will provide SPR important information on the users experience and help guide future field projects.

In 2016, SPR completed the Bobby Morris synthetic field replacement pilot project. This pilot project used cork as an alternative to the crumb-rubber infill. As a pilot project, SPR is gathering input on the playability, durability as well as overall playfield experience – visit https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/BobbyMorrisPlayfield

Please pass this survey onto other playfield users. For more information please contact Jay Rood at jay.rood@seattle.gov. 

Visit the Our Online Open House

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Seattle Parks and Recreation (SPR) needs to hear from you! How can SPR support our community as we implement our 2020 – 2032 Strategic Plan? Your input will help us identify critical needs and priorities as we plan for the next three years and beyond. Please visit Seattle Parks and Recreation Strategic Plan Implementation online open house at https://sprstrategicplan.infocommunity.org/ today! 

The purpose of this online open house is to seek community input to inform our plans for pandemic and economic recovery, responding to climate change, and supporting racial equity. We want to learn more about what you want to see in your parks, open spaces, and community centers in the coming years.

“Our charge as public servants and stewards of this incredible system is to ensure we’re serving our community, especially those with the greatest needs. We can only do that if we have a clear vision for our work, if we’re engaged in authentic and open dialogue with our constituents, and if we are able to articulate our plans for meeting the needs of community. To accomplish this, we need to create an implementation plan that directs the adaptation of our programs, services, and amenities to aid in our city’s recovery and meet the needs of our changing city,” said Jesús Aguirre, Seattle Parks and Recreation Superintendent.

In March 2020, after extensive public input, SPR released an updated Strategic Plan to guide programming, services, and investments from 2020 to 2032. Guided by a new Pathway to Equity, a roadmap for SPR to play our part in ending institutional and structural racism in Seattle, the plan identified 40 strategies to advance our collective vision. These strategies support our vision of promoting healthy people, a healthy environment, and strong communities while pursuing racial equity and organizational excellence. Read more about the Strategic Plan and Pathway to Equity

“As we look to implement the priorities in our 2020-2032 Strategic Plan, it’s critical to check back in with communities we serve and consider the dramatic change and disruption we’ve faced over the past 18 months through the COVID-19 pandemic, the associated economic downturn, the nationwide racial reckoning, and the increasing impacts of climate change,” said Aguirre.

This engagement effort to support Strategic Plan implementation will also inform the next six-year cycle of the voter-approved Seattle Park District, which was also put on hold during the pandemic. The Seattle Park District is a sustainable funding source to repair, maintain, and restore basic services at the city’s parks, community centers, and regional attractions, and provides about 20% of SPR’s funding. Originally planned for 2021-2026, the next Park District funding cycle will now span 2023-2028. SPR will resume this financial planning process in early 2022.

For more information on the Strategic Plan and how your participation in the Strategic Plan Implementation online open house will contribute to the future of SPR please visit https://www.seattle.gov/parks/strategicplan or contact PKS_SprStrategicPlan@seattle.gov.

Seattle Parks and Recreation(SPR) is happy to announce we are working in the East Duwamish Greenspace and have hired Garden Cycles as the contractor to continue weed removal, regulated noxious weed control prior to planting this fall 2021.

Work is ongoing with professional crews and volunteers. SPR and Garden Cycles will be focused in the vicinity of over the next several months.

• Beacon Ave. S between Holgate overpass and 13^th Ave. S

• Western terminus of S Cloverdale St. and Cecil Ave. S
• Carkeek Dr. S
• S Fletcher St. & Beacon Ave. S above Martin Luther King Blvd. S

The East Duwamish Greenbelt is a series of SPR greenspaces that form part of the forested areas on the western edge of Beacon Hill. In Lushootseed, Duwamish call the hill qWátSéécH or “greenish-yellow spine”, referring to the color of the bigleaf maple, alder and willow trees that grow on the hill. The forested parkland stretches the length of Beacon Hill from Dr. Jose Rizal Bridge all the way to Martin Luther King, Jr. Blvd. It buffers Beacon Hill neighborhoods from heat and pollution from nearby Interstate 5 while also preserving habitat for local and migrating wildlife species.

For more than ten years, SPR has emphasized restoration of these natural areas as part of Green Seattle Partnership efforts. Principle activities include weed removal of plants such as ivy and blackberry, stabilizing soils from erosion and replanting longer-lived evergreen trees and shrubs. This restoration work is being funded in part with Real Estate Excise Tax and Seattle Park District funding.

For more information, please visit https://www.seattle.gov/parks/volunteer/urban-forest-restoration. If you have questions about this project or restoration in other parts of the city please contact plant ecologist, Michael Yadrick at michael.yadrick@seattle.gov. Please visit Friends of East Duwamish Greenbelt Facebook page to learn more about monthly work parties at S Trenton St. and 39th Ave S.

2020—it’s a year many of us would like to forget! But despite the extraordinary challenges that last year presented, so many in our Seattle Parks and Recreation (SPR) community stepped up to support one another through multiple crises.

At the outset of the COVID-19 pandemic, SPR operations rapidly shifted to focus on providing critical services, including community showers, childcare for those furthest from educational justice, enhanced cleaning of facilities and restrooms, a focus on keeping parks open while supporting public health and safety, free meals programs, and virtual programming aimed at those most isolated.

Our 2020 Impact Report below highlights some of the ways we supported healthy people, a healthy environment, and strong communities last year. Thank you to our staff, volunteers, partners, and community for these incredible accomplishments!