Golden Gardens Park, established in 1904 by Harry W Treat, is a lovely 95-acre beach park with sandy beaches north of Shilshole Bay Marina. There are picnic facilities, restrooms, basketball hoops, volleyball nets, gangs of Canadian geese, lots of parking and plenty of space to get away from all the activity. The Burke-Gilman Trail effectively ends here.

Rising above Golden Gardens is Sunset Hill Park, a prime perch for dramatic sunsets and long views.


Lonely Planet's must-see attractions

Nearby attractions

1. Sunset Hill Park

0.38 MILES

Rising above Golden Gardens on 34th Ave is sinuous Sunset Hill Park, a prime perch for dramatic sunsets and long views.

2. Shilshole Bay Marina

0.68 MILES

The Shilshole Bay Marina, about 2 miles northwest of the Hiram M Chittenden Locks along Seaview Ave NW, offers pleasant views across Puget Sound framed by…

3. Leif Erikson Statue

0.74 MILES

Looking out over the modern yachts in the Shilshole Bay Marina is this magnificent statue of the Icelandic explorer and 'discoverer' of America, Leif…

4. Nordic Museum

1.54 MILES

Reason alone to come to Ballard – if the culinary scene and waterside parks weren’t enough – is this delightful surprise of a museum dedicated to Nordic…

6. Carl English Jr Botanical Gardens

1.63 MILES

On the northern bank of Hiram M Chittenden Locks is this charming arboretum and specimen garden. Trails wind through gardens filled with flowers and…

7. Hiram M Chittenden Locks

1.65 MILES

Seattle shimmers like an impressionist painting on sunny days at the Hiram M Chittenden Locks. Here, the fresh waters of Lake Washington and Lake Union…

8. Ballard Building

1.65 MILES

Ballard’s only major terracotta structure was built in the 1920s by the Fraternal Order of Eagles. It once held a community hospital and now houses shops,…