Golden Gardens Park: Wikis

Note: Many of our articles have direct quotes from sources you can cite, within the Wikipedia article! This article doesn't yet, but we're working on it! See more info or our list of citable articles.

Encyclopedia

Updated live from Wikipedia, last check: June 02, 2012 11:06 UTC (53 seconds ago)

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Golden Gardens Park at sunset.

Looking toward Shilshole Bay Marina from the beachfront picnic area.

A paraglider practices in the dunes. The forested upper portion of the park can be seen in the background and the old bathhouse at right is an official Seattle landmark.^[1]

Golden Gardens Park is a public park in Ballard, which is part of metropolitan Seattle, Washington. The park includes wetlands, beaches, hiking trails, and picnic and playground areas. The park is bisected by the BNSF Railway railway.

Recreation

Foreground, freshwater marsh near the north end of the park, and the salt water of Puget Sound in the background.

The lower portion of the park is divided between wetland marsh and beach (on Puget Sound), and situated north of the Shilshole Bay Marina. It also has dunes and large grassy areas. Golden Gardens has exceptional views of Puget Sound and the Olympic Mountains across the sound.

The water is too cold for swimming, but sailing, kayaking, and canoeing are popular. Kitesurfing and sailboarding and other wind-driven sports are also common. The Sound is cut off from the open ocean for more than a hundred miles, sheltering the park from severe weather.

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

Mallard ducks in the wetlands
Red-winged blackbirds in the marshes
Canada geese are seen in the parking lot and near picnic areas
Wood ducks make occasional appearances
Eagles occasionally fish here
Seagulls are common

The mallards and Canada geese are habituated to humans, and have been known to attack visitors. Sea lions are often heard, and occasionally seen lounging near the marina breakwater.