05-10-25
During
the Covid pandemic lockdown in 2020 I did several in city hikes
starting at Llandover Park right on the north border of Seattle. On
March 16 this year I did another hike from Llandover Park to
Carkeek Park. Some early flowers were already in bloom. Gary had not
done the hike and I suggested we do it while spring flowers were in
bloom. Gary suggested we do the trip on Saturday. It was nice to have a
10 minute drive to a trailhead. We met at 8:27 am. The trip starts with
a downhill walk through the fairly new Llandover Park. It drops sown a
ravine. We went down the south loop and up the north loop. It was half
a mile to the lower end of the park. There was a good variety of
flowers in bloom in the park. The road dropped out on a narrow dead end
road. The road has forest alongside and well spaced homes.
Rhododendrons were in bloom at many of the homes. That continued for
most of our hike. We took the first right turn down to a view of the
Olympic Mountains and Puget Sound. We stopped at the private property
sign on the road. There are some huge rhododendron trees on this short
side trip. Back on the main drag we started uphill. Along the way, I
saw something big moving below the road. The barred owl landed on a
tree branch. It proceeded to pose for photos. I managed to get a good
one.
We passed a yard with two enormous rhody trees. One was pink and the other was bright red. The dead end road ended at NW 137th St. At NW Elford Drive, we turned right and began to descend. This side trip adds 1.2 miles and 240' of elevation loss and gain. We saw two interesting rhodies on this side trip. One was bright yellow and the other orange. Those are two colors I don't recall seeing. Back up on the main drag, we turned right on what was now 8th Ave NW. At 132nd we took a right and dropped to 12th Ave NW. This road dead ends where two trails drop into Carkeek Park. We went down one and up the other. The yards on the way were full of blooming flowers. We were right at peak for most flowers. Some of the rhododendrons were as tall as trees. One dark blue flowers was in nearly every yard. We just kept seeing more and more of it.
At NW 118th St. we turned right this follows a short loop that comes back on NW 117th St. Between two homes we took a narrow trail into the park. We took the longer route going up to a meadow behind some homes. We then dropped down to the main area of the park. There were people in the park though it was not yet crowded. It was overcast at 10:27 am as we took a food and water break. We took 1:58 to hike 4.8 miles. Next, we headed down to the beach. The tide was out giving us more beach area than usual. We saw a great blue heron, crows, and gulls. The view of the Olympics was great though clouds were beginning to cover the top of Mt. Constance as we were leaving.
We crossed over the railroad tracks and took the South Bluff Trail over Pipers Creek and then up the South Bluff. For a morning hike on what is often a little used trail, we saw quite a few people. Flowers seen on the forest walk included bleeding hearts, spring beauty, false Solomon Seal, thimbleberry, and salmonberry, I had not been on this trail in a dozen years or so. We dropped down the South Bluff to the Piper's Creek Trail. I have often hiked down it from behind the QFC through Carkeek Park. When I started doing this trip the QFC was Art's Food Center. The trail passed the Orchard and several large skunk cabbage plants. At the south trailhead we had a picnic table for the rest of our lunches. It was 11:51 am and we had hiked 7.1 miles. After lunch, we hiked down the Piper's Creek Trail. We crossed the main road into the park and took a trail that led back up to 12th Ave NW. Now we were back on our route to Carkeek Park.
We followed our earlier route in reverse with two exceptions. We did not do the long drop on Elford Drive nor the short drop to views of Puget Sound. We took fewer photos on the way but and had several short steep uphills to navigate. As mentioned earlier, we took the shorter north loop trail in Llandover Park. Our cars were at the highest point of our trip at about 490'. We arrived at the trailhead at 1:39 pm. For the day we hiked 10.7 miles with about 1600' of gain. Not a bad gain for a trip that went from just below sea level to just under 500'. Nearly 11 miles made for a long city hike. With the short drive home it was not a long total time for the trip. The flower display was excellent. Seeing a big barred owl in Seattle was a first. All in all, it was a fun city hike.
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Trips - 2025
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We passed a yard with two enormous rhody trees. One was pink and the other was bright red. The dead end road ended at NW 137th St. At NW Elford Drive, we turned right and began to descend. This side trip adds 1.2 miles and 240' of elevation loss and gain. We saw two interesting rhodies on this side trip. One was bright yellow and the other orange. Those are two colors I don't recall seeing. Back up on the main drag, we turned right on what was now 8th Ave NW. At 132nd we took a right and dropped to 12th Ave NW. This road dead ends where two trails drop into Carkeek Park. We went down one and up the other. The yards on the way were full of blooming flowers. We were right at peak for most flowers. Some of the rhododendrons were as tall as trees. One dark blue flowers was in nearly every yard. We just kept seeing more and more of it.
At NW 118th St. we turned right this follows a short loop that comes back on NW 117th St. Between two homes we took a narrow trail into the park. We took the longer route going up to a meadow behind some homes. We then dropped down to the main area of the park. There were people in the park though it was not yet crowded. It was overcast at 10:27 am as we took a food and water break. We took 1:58 to hike 4.8 miles. Next, we headed down to the beach. The tide was out giving us more beach area than usual. We saw a great blue heron, crows, and gulls. The view of the Olympics was great though clouds were beginning to cover the top of Mt. Constance as we were leaving.
We crossed over the railroad tracks and took the South Bluff Trail over Pipers Creek and then up the South Bluff. For a morning hike on what is often a little used trail, we saw quite a few people. Flowers seen on the forest walk included bleeding hearts, spring beauty, false Solomon Seal, thimbleberry, and salmonberry, I had not been on this trail in a dozen years or so. We dropped down the South Bluff to the Piper's Creek Trail. I have often hiked down it from behind the QFC through Carkeek Park. When I started doing this trip the QFC was Art's Food Center. The trail passed the Orchard and several large skunk cabbage plants. At the south trailhead we had a picnic table for the rest of our lunches. It was 11:51 am and we had hiked 7.1 miles. After lunch, we hiked down the Piper's Creek Trail. We crossed the main road into the park and took a trail that led back up to 12th Ave NW. Now we were back on our route to Carkeek Park.
We followed our earlier route in reverse with two exceptions. We did not do the long drop on Elford Drive nor the short drop to views of Puget Sound. We took fewer photos on the way but and had several short steep uphills to navigate. As mentioned earlier, we took the shorter north loop trail in Llandover Park. Our cars were at the highest point of our trip at about 490'. We arrived at the trailhead at 1:39 pm. For the day we hiked 10.7 miles with about 1600' of gain. Not a bad gain for a trip that went from just below sea level to just under 500'. Nearly 11 miles made for a long city hike. With the short drive home it was not a long total time for the trip. The flower display was excellent. Seeing a big barred owl in Seattle was a first. All in all, it was a fun city hike.
 Colorful Irises |
 Trailhead Flowers |
 Big White Flowers |
 White Columbine |
 Llandover Park Trail |
 Bleeding Hearts |
 First Rhododendron |
 Bigger Rhody |
 View Of The Brothers |
 Bright Colors |
 Roadside Rose |
 Pleasant Road Walk |
 Barred Owl |
 Bigger Rhody |
 Yellow Rhododendron |
 Neat Tree |
 Orange Rhododendron |
 Peaks & Rhody |
 Small & Colorful |
 Many Colors |
 Unknown Flower |
 Yellow Leaves |
 Bluish Tree |
 Dual Rhodies |
 Carkeek Park Trail |
 Carkeek Beach |
 Great Blue Heron |
 False Solomon's Seal |
 South Bluff Bridge |
 Skunk Cabbage |
 Oriental Poppy |
 White Tulips |
 Palm Tree |
 Huge Rhododendron |
 Two Giant Rhodies |
 Back In Llandover Park |
Trips - 2025
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