Juanita Bay Park

This great little park in the Juanita neighborhood of Kirkland nestles up to the eastern banks of Lake Washington. It has multiple boardwalks and is easy to access via the parking lot off Forbes Creek Dr. and 98th Ave. NE. The park is part of a 110-acre urban wildlife habitat area.

Key stats:

Distance: There are 2 about miles of trails in the park including the Old Market Street Trail which extends the North-South length of the park.

Wheelchair accessible parking? Yes

Wheelchair accessible bathrooms? Yes, about 50 feet down the trail from the parking lot

Trail condition?

Paved trail in the top part of the park (see first picture below), relatively wide and with just occasional cracks and holes. The two boardwalks that extend out over the lake are in good condition but still a little bumpy (as most boardwalks are in a wheelchair).

Highlights?

The birds! We really wished we had borrowed the wifi binoculars for this one since there were more birds out in the marsh — herons, coots, cormorants, wood ducks etc — then we’ve seen on any other recent hikes. Someone we ran into even had a talking parrots on their shoulder!

The boardwalks are relatively short but you should hang out for a while on the observation decks to check out the wildlife, including the line of turtles that like to hang out on one of the logs. Supposedly you can see otters sometimes too.

To extend beyond the short trails in the south park of the park you can walk along the Old Market Street Trail which is essentially a 20 foot wide, paved boardwalk that goes to the north end of the park, and then turns into a paved urban trail that extends to nearby Juanita Beach Park.

More information about Juanita Bay Park here and here.

Old Market Street Trail