Washington's most used park
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A brief history and description of Green Lake Park.
Green Lake is the heart and soul of the Green Lake neighborhood. Once a remote and relaxing destination for early settlers of Seattle, homesteading began in 1888 and has been growing ever since.
The lake is about 260 acres in size and has a maximum depth of 30 feet. Green Lake Park surrounds the lake and has been described as the most used park in the State of Washington. A 2.8 mile paved and graveled walking, running, skating and biking path encircles the lake and beyond the path are numerous facilities for a wide range of athletic endeavors.
At the south end of the lake is the Green Lake Aqua Theater built in the 1950’s with a grandstand large enough to accommodate 5000 people. Most of it has been torn down now and remodeled to house the Massart Shell House and public rest rooms. For history’s sake it might be noted that the bands The Grateful Dead and Led Zeppelin both played there in 1969.
Moving around the lake to the north we can find a small nature preserve on what is known as Duck Island. People are not allowed to set foot on the island. Today, when walking by we noticed a Bald Eagle in the top branches, probably scoping out a duck for lunch. At the very north end of the lake is a building known as the Bath House Theater. It was once just a bath house serving the swimming area still located here but now the building is home to The Seattle Public Theater at the Bathhouse.
Along the east side of the lake there is a children’s wading pool and nearing the commercial core of the Green Lake neighborhood we find the Green Lake Community Center with Evans Pool , basket ball courts inside and out, conference rooms and craft rooms. Adjacent to the center are baseball and soft ball fields that often double as soccer camp areas or just a good place to sail a Frisbee. There are two sets of tennis courts, one here at the center and one on the north end. At the south end is a 9 hole chip and put golf course.
Green Lake Park provides hours and hours of outdoor recreation for all ages in many different ways. There is no reason to wonder why it is the state’s most used park. For information on the wide varity of trees in the park look for a book The Trees of Green Lake by Arthur Lee Jacobson.
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