Mount Baker Park and Boulevard Walking Tour

Mount Baker Park and Boulevard were built in 1908-9 by the Hunter Improvement Company as part of the ‘Mount Baker Park’ residential subdivision. In their 1903 plan, John Charles Olmsted recommended setting aside the ravine (Mt Baker Park) as a park with a parkway (now Lake Park Drive connecting to Mount Baker Boulevard) as a spur boulevard from Lake Washington Boulevard that would extend to Beacon Hill.

The designers of the subdivision, including the boulevard, were George Cotterill, former City Engineer who laid out the plat, and former Parks Superintendent E.O. Schwagerl who provided landscape design. John Charles Olmsted was hired by the Hunter company to review the plat and meet with Cotterill.

The west border of the subdivision was at 30th Avenue, along the bank of a stream that flowed south toward Wetmore Slough (today, Genesee Park).

Walking Tour Details:

• Meet at Mount Baker Beach, 2521 Lake Park Drive South. Parking lot is on Lake Washington Blvd.
• Distance: 2.25 miles. This walk includes some uphill and downhill.
• Two stairways are on the walk, one with 100 steps upward and one with 60 steps downward.
• Tour takes place rain or shine; dress for the weather, bring sunscreen and a water bottle.

Please contact if you have any questions or need additional information.

Host or Publisher Friends of Seattle's Olmsted Parks