West Duwamish Greenbelt Trail

Dogs Off-leash

Features Birding · Fall Colors · River/Creek · Wildlife

No parking fees. I parked at the Duwamish Longhouse and Cultural Center on Marginal Way. There are other trailheads at higher elevations, too. I would avoid the trailhead to the southeast near the intersection of Marginal Way and Highland Park Way just because it looks like unhoused folks are living nearby and might mess with your car. Did not see any tents there, just trash. I did not see any evidence of people living in the woods along the trail.

Here's your chance to run an actual trail in the city for 3 miles and NOT do a loop! A one-way 3-miler! There are loops here or out and backs, too. You have a lot of options in this area.

The greenbelt is over 500 acres and is the largest contiguous piece of forest in Seattle. The route shown is mostly singletrack, with some wide trail sections as well. It is steep in places but those sections rarely last long. I ran it in mid-August after a dry spell so no wet spots to speak of. After a rain or in the rainy season this would be muddy/slippery in spots. Most of these low areas have been mitigated by well-placed logs or even a few planks.

There are several trail junctions. Your best bet for knowing where to turn is to download this map from the West Duwamish Greenbelt Trail group or use the Hiking Project mobile app ( wdgtrails.wordpress.com/tra…). Then use the Avenza app; this will allow you to use your phone's GPS to navigate using the pdf map. (Avenza is super-cool!)

If you want more adventure, there is a trail system in the greenbelt to the south, across Highland Park Way, that extends another two miles to Westcrest Park. The southern half mile of this trail is in a public park with ball fields and is not in the woods. This allows you to make it a three mile run.

A lot of native trees, both evergreen and deciduous. Some really big Douglas Firs and some huge cottonwoods. Yew trees as well. Honest to god skunk cabbage, too! Would be rich with bird song in the spring no doubt.