saint edward state park

This wooded park includes 14 miles of trails. Many allow biking, all allow hiking. My dog loves it, though she must remain on the leash at all times. There is a community built play structure that the kids love. The empty dorm of the former catholic seminary is an architecturally interesting building. Have your St. Park pass on display as the rangers will ticket, especially on crowded days.

St. Edwards is a fantastic park! In the past couple of years they've added a fantastic play area for the kids! There is also lots of great hiking trails, and you can even hike down to Lake Washington! Bring a blanket and a picnic lunch, and you'll love spending an afternoon here! Fun for the full family! Or come by yourself and bring your dogggie for a nice walk, just remember to bring a bag or two, and please clean up after your pets! Everyone can enjoy the park better when we all pitch in!

Located in Kenmore, bordering Lake Washington and Juanita Drive. Nice hikes with few hikers. I'm glad the State of Washington hasn't sold this property for commercial use.

Came to the park for the Western Washington All Brits Field Meet. Loved the location. Ended up wandering all over the park. The lake is beautiful.

What a treat! I was staying with a friend who lives on the lake and this is his daily running spot. Lots of tree roots (he fell one day) so I would recommend the hike instead :-)Several paths to choose from. Long / short / easy / challenging. Nice view of the lake and such peace and quiet. It is a special retreat. There are picnic tables and grills available in the open space around the old monastery. I was surprised so few people seemed to use the space since it is clearly a great place for family gatherings.

I have walked the trails with my son in the ergo since he was a newborn, he is now 13 months and I still am doing the trails. He loves the lake and it's a great little way for me to get exercise and have him take in the views. I look forward to when we get to walk the trails together. If walking trails is not for you - there are great picnic spots and children's playground that has almost everything.

I almost hate to write about this great place for fear of encouraging more people to come, but honestly it's worth coming to. I love to jog and my wife loves to walk, so we do both, meet up on the trail, and walk together back to the car. Being a state park, there is a $10 single use charge of $30 for a year pass. Do the math and splurge on the annual pass, and you're good to go to relieve stress at a great place on the Eastside.

I'm from out of state but my cousin said that this was the best park in town (Seattle). I didn't use the bike trails but he raved about them too. My aunt's condo is right across the street, and my mother and I were staying with her, so I went here almost every day whenever I had some downtime from family events for 4-6 hours per day. We had unseasonably warm spring weather when I was there in May. But I was cool on the shady trails unless I ran uphill with my video camera going. I was alone but amused myself with nature photography and by greeting the occasional hiker, many of whom had dogs and a few who had children. One of my most memorable occurrences was when I crossed paths with a young girl who was being pushed up the hill by her mother. The main path in the center is 'Easy' for those who are looking for a relaxing walk through the woods. There are 'Most Difficult' paths on both sides for the more vigorous hiker. I saw three varieties of slugs, two large snails and huge redwood trees wherever I went. I felt like a NYC tourist looking up at all of the skyscrapers. They are magnificent!

Weather you have a family or your out with friends St. Edwards is worth the trip. Bring your park pass hanger, or pay for day parking. Metro runs very near to park with a short walk to the park, bike there, hike there from more distant trails. If you just want to take a short stole there is a paved half loop & whole loop on the main grounds - these would be good for kids bikes, skating, scooters, strollers, Grandma and Grandpa; Plan well for the hikes - not all are good for all ages. Things you can do: Pick nick or use grill stations on the vast grounds, some tables area available, concert in the park series -arive early and carpool if you can, Soccer Fields, WA's 2nd largest student designed playground, Basket Ball Court in the Gym, Educational walk's and tours, Tour the building is only during key times of the year, Hike the many trails and bring water - the trails are considered easy to difficult - stop by the office or Keyosk and pick up a trail's map- pack your water, sun screen (and bug spray in the evening). At the base of the hiking trails that run down to the water there is swimming, you can fish - but I've never caught fish there.This is a amazing day excursion to do, you'll come back year after year, so go for it !Timing your visit: Day with the kids at the playground and picknick 2-3 hours; Hiking 30min for super easy hiking, moderate expect 45min to 1 1/2 hrs longer if you stay rest at the water side, longer trails and rest by water side 1 1/2 -3 hours; Add extra time for relaxing after your hike, or take your time and lay out a blanket on the fields and read a book basking in the sun; this is a good family of all age's & friends place; this place has something for everyone!

Except for the price for parking, this is a really great park. It has an exceptional play area for kids of all ages, and a ton of open space to explore. There are trails for walking, hiking, and biking. In the summer, you can walk down to lake washington and swim.

a fantastic close-in park which feels like you are on mt. hike. Unfortunately there is a move for the State Park Commissioners to lease the seminary building to let an unknown entity (Dept. of Defense is rumored) to lease and sub lease and put in 400 parking spaces which will turn this serene park into an office complex. Please write your legislators/Park Commissioners. And come to a public meeting on Jan. 14 at the Northshore Utility Dept. 6:30-8:30pm, 6830 NE 185 St.( just beyond Murphy's auction on 68th Ave NE.) Please come!

On hot summer days, this is our favorite place to take a walk/hike because almost all of the trails are shaded and cool. There are enough different paths and choices to make it interesting and fresh.Only drawback is going in wet weather when there are tons of slugs. Our daughters spend more time looking down than looking around!

This park provides a very pleasant respite within the bustling Seattle metropolitan area.As others have mentioned, the large playground is a site to behold . . kind of makes me wish I were a kid again.The grassy picnic areas on the south and east sides of the old seminary (adjacent to the playground) can be crowded on summer weekends; you will probably find that all the picnic tables are claimed. If you are looking for a little more space, solitude, and quiet, try the grassy area on the west side of the seminary, where there are numerous picnic tables that usually sit empty (though many are also in full sun). The east side of the park along the entrance road features a sizable grassy field perfect for softball games . . or cricket as the case may be. There is a network of hiking trails . . .surprisingly extensive for an urban park, and you can kind of pretend you are "away from it all". The elevation change going down to the Lake Washington shoreline and back will be just enough to cause you to break a sweat provided you are walking at a good pace.The lakefront -- along which there is a trail -- is natural and undeveloped. At the bottom of the "Seminary Trail" and "Grotto Trail", there is a small area along Lake Washington that one might call a "beach" if one were generous; you could wade or swim there if you want, and there is enough room for a handful of parties to spread out beach blankets. However, along most of the park's lakefront, you'll find forest all the way to the water's edge and then a drop off of a couple of feet or more down to the water. Nice to look at, but to be clear, this is not really a swimming park and I suspect that the vast majority of visitors don't even walk down to the lake.There are also some nice reservable group picnic areas.Pluses:- Short drive from most eastside locations- Bucolic setting- Wonderful playground- Rare example of undeveloped lakeshore on Lake Washington- Good network of hiking trails - you won't confuse it for the Cascades, but it's nice.Drawbacks:- Could use more benches around the playground for parents and others to sit on- Need better signage at trailheads and trail intersections, including maps with "you are here" indicators.- If you don't like the noise of kids screaming and playing (which carries quite a distance), this might not be your park on days when the weather is nice.- The main trail down to the lake . . .the "Seminary Trail" . . . feels more like a road than a trail.

This park provides great hiking trails for an urban park. There is a large playground and lots of grassy areas for picnics or playing ball. A wide trail winds down the the water (ok for strollers) and there are many more challenging trails winding thoughout the park. This is a popular mountain bike park with trails on the upper part of the park. Most bikers park at the local QFC to access the bike trails. There is a parking fee. No off leash area for dogs, but there are areas for dogs to jump in the water. Water fountains available but no food.

We wanted to go for a walk somewhere other than our neighborhood or Greenlake or Burke-Gilman or the like. We searched state parks and decided on St. Edwards. Because it's a state park, there is a day use fee: $10/day or $30/year for entrance to all state parks. We think it's worth it to buy the annual pass because there are so many parks to visit. This park is on the honor system as no one was there to collect fees. We just put up our annual pass and were good to go.There are different trails to take to the water. We took the .62 mile moderate trail down (it might have been the seminary trail). There was a 1mile "most difficult" South Ridge trail to head back up but we chose the .5 "more difficult" South Canyon trail (it's listed as moderate on the trailhead down). A word of caution: the South Canyon trail is narrower so if you have a young child you might avoid this one. Our 8-year-old son slipped but caught a fern. Granted, it was muddy.There is an Orchard Loop trail that is shorter and listed as easy on the trailhead.