Discovery Park at the Edge Where the City Stops

Discovery Park at the Edge Where the City Stops

Discovery Park occupies 534 acres on Magnolia Bluff — the largest park in Seattle, and the one that feels least like a city park. The Loop Trail is a 2.8-mile circuit through old-growth forest, sand dunes, and meadows, and the descent to the West Point Lighthouse at the beach drops you onto Puget Sound with the Olympic Mountains across the water and not a building in sight.

The beach at West Point is driftwood-scattered and wild, and at low tide the tidal pools hold anemones, sea stars, and hermit crabs. Bald eagles nest in the park's trees and hunt the shoreline with the territorial confidence of apex predators who were here before the park was designated.

Best time: A clear October afternoon, when the Olympics are snow-capped, the light is golden, and the trail is quiet. Bring layers — the Sound generates its own weather. Park at the south entrance; the north lot is smaller and farther from the lighthouse trail.