Seattle Parks and Recreation and the Associated Recreation Council are excited for the second year of SurvivorQuest Summer Youth Camp at Camp Long Environmental Learning Center. This camp introduces youth ages 12-15 to wilderness survival, backpacking skills, first aid, environmental science, and more.

In an effort to individualize education, campers are given the opportunity to build some of the SurvivorQuest curriculum. On the first day of each five-day session, campers and counselors will plan the week’s activities together to incorporate campers’ goals into the planned survival and environmental learning objectives. Not only will they learn survival skills and environmental science, but they will get to choose outdoor skills to focus on for the week.

Another component of this camp is that sessions will include use of Camp Long’s 4-H Challenge Course and the famous Schurman Rock for facilitated rock climbing. If you’re not familiar with the history of Schurman Rock, this video is a great place to start. Camp Long’s Challenge Course facilitators follow the principles of Experiential Education, with heavy focus on team-building, communication, decision-making, and accountability.

SurvivorQuest starts the week of July 1st and runs for six weeks (No camp during the weeks of July 15-19 or July 22-26). Each session lasts five days, Monday through Friday. The camp is held at Camp Long for all five days. Sessions cost $385, with scholarships available.

Your teen can pioneer this one-of-a-kind camp experience and outfit themselves with skills they can use for camping, climbing, environmental stewardship, and even the inhospitable wilds of high school hallways. For more information or to register your teen, call Camp Long at 206-684-7434.

Join us on Friday, June 28 from 5 to 8 pm. at the Northgate Community Center (10510 5th Ave. NE) to celebrate the 13th anniversary of the Northgate Community Center and Northgate Library complex. We’ll have music, BBQ, activity booths, games and more. This free event is open to all!

All Seattle Parks and Recreation community centers, pools, teen life centers and small craft centers will be closed on April 4 for an all-staff Recreation Division training. In addition, all Recreation programs will be canceled, and the Camp Long visitor center will be closed.

School Age Care programs (Before and After School), Preschool programs, and Community Learning Centers will run as usual at the centers and school facilities where they are normally held.

Most rentals will not be impacted but we suggest customers verify with the facility where their rental is held.

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Las piscinas y centros comunitarios de Seattle Parks and Recreation cerrarán este jueves 4 de abril

Todos los centros comunitarios, piscinas, centros juveniles y de embarcaciones pequeñas de Seattle Parks and Recreation estarán cerrados el 4 de abril para una capacitación de todo el personal de la División de Recreación. Además, todos los programas de Recreación se cancelarán y el centro de visitantes del Camp Long estará cerrado.

Sin embargo, los programas de Cuidados de Niños en Edad Escolar (antes y después de clases), los programas Preescolares y los Centros de Aprendizaje Comunitarios funcionarán con normalidad en los centros y escuelas donde generalmente se llevan a cabo.

La mayoría de los alquileres de las instalaciones no se verán afectados, pero les sugerimos a nuestros clientes que verifiquen con el personal de la instalación que está alquilada.

The snow has stopped and the sun is out – can it possibly be that spring is truly on the way?!

Don’t miss out – we have a wide variety of opportunities for you to get out into nature with your family and friends.

Bird walks, tide exploration, tots walks, writing in the wild –  such a variety!

Click here to read the brochure and then jump online and register. Difficulty registering online? Call 206-386-4237 and we can help!

The sixth annual Momentia Talent Share at Northgate Community Center is Sat., April 6, 2-4 pm. This special event celebrates the strengths and talents of people living with memory loss. It features art, music, poetry, dancing and door prizes. This free, family-friendly event is open to all who support a dementia-friendly community.

On a blustery, cold winter day, the fences were removed from the newly constructed High Point play area.

High Point play area sits behind the High Point Community Center in West Seattle, next to the Walt Hundley Playfield.

A few facts about this park:

1. The park sits at the highest point in Seattle (520 feet above sea level, and about 70 feet higher than Queen Anne or Capitol Hill).
2. The playfield is named after Walt Hundley, who was the first African American Superintendent of Seattle Parks (from 1977 to 1988). Mr. Hundley helped acquire this site for the field and community center.

With a brand-new play area, this park has it all! The park includes a lit, synthetic turf field, which hosts neighborhood teams and regional soccer tournaments. It also features a baseball diamond as well as a walking loop, and the adjacent community center has programs for kids, seniors, teens, and adults.

The new play area was designed by Seattle Parks and Recreation’s very own landscape architect, Bronwen Carpenter. Bronwen has been with the department for the last few years as our in-house landscape architect, and High Point was the first project she designed on her own.

The new play area is almost five times the size of the old one and incorporates a tall climbing tower to give little adventurers an exceptional view of downtown Seattle. During the community meetings, we heard that folks would love swings, and we delivered.

The play area is colorful, whimsical, and encourages kids to climb, run, jump, and enjoy playing outdoors. There are multiple seating areas surrounding the site, and a beautiful northwest rain garden (the perfect spot to start a conversation about native plants and rain runoff).

Seattle Parks and Recreation has been renovating playgrounds across the city thanks to funding from the Seattle Park District! David Rodgers in Queen Anne, Lakeridge Park in Rainier Beach, E.C. Hughes in Delridge, Wallingford Playfield, and so many more are on their way. Learn more here.

An Opening Celebration for the new High Point play area is planned for Saturday, March 23 from 2 p.m. to 4 p.m. We hope to see you there!

We are excited to be a part of King County’s 1 Million Trees initiative!

Thanks to the efforts of cities, nonprofits, tribes, schools and residents, partners planted 705,840 trees in King County– well past the half-way mark to the goal of #1MillionTrees by 2020.

And, through the Green Seattle Partnership, Seattle Parks and Recreation planted more than 111,000 trees from 2015 to 2018!

The Green Seattle Partnership regularly installs over 100,000 plants each year as part of restoration projects across the city. In 2018, Seattle Parks staff, volunteers and contractors planted a record-breaking 43,000 trees alone!

Interested in helping us contribute to King County’s #1MilliontTrees Initiative? Volunteer for a restoration event with the Green Seattle Partnership–click here to find a volunteer event happening near you!