• Skip to primary navigation
  • Skip to secondary navigation
  • Skip to main content
  • Skip to primary sidebar
  • Skip to footer
  • Home
  • About
  • Advertise
  • Privacy Policy
  • Living on the Cheap
  • Contact

Greater Seattle on the Cheap

Free things to do, cheap fun, discounts and deals in the Seattle-Tacoma metro area

  • Entertainment
    & Nightlife
    • Restaurants, Bars & Nightclubs
    • Fairs, Festivals & Parades
    • Tours & Attractions
    • Pro & College Sports
    • Quirks of Seattle
  • Performance
    & Visual Arts
    • Movies, Films & Documentaries
    • Theatre, Comedy & Music
    • Art Galleries & Museums
  • Discounts
    & Deals
    • Discounts on Dining
    • Discounts on Arts & Entertainment
    • Half-price tickets
    • Coupons & Shopping Discounts
  • Hobbies
    & Interests
    • Games, Arts & Crafts
    • Reading, Writing & Podcasts
    • Other Hobbies & Interests
    • Volunteer
  • Sports
    & Recreation
    • Walks & Hikes
    • Biking
    • Boating & water sports
    • Other sports & recreation
  • Shopping
    New & Used
    • Expos (consumer show, gift bazaar)
    • New (sale, discount stores, outlets)
    • Used (consignment, thrift, garage, flea & vintage)
    • What to buy every month
    • Cheap gas
  • Living
    in Seattle
    • Cooking, Groceries & Growing Food
    • Fitness & Exercise
    • Home, Garden & Auto
    • Health & Safety
    • Jobs and Education
  • Event calendar
  • Free today
  • Free this month
  • Always free
  • Coming soon
  • Featured this week
  • Rainy day fun
  • Big lists of fun
You are here: Home / Sports & Recreation / Walks, hikes & running / Best parks for a Thanksgiving Day stroll
← Half-price & discount tickets on arts & entertainment
Christmas videos to put you in a holiday mood →

Best parks for a Thanksgiving Day stroll

POSTED BY
Carole Cancler

Here are some recommended places for an after dinner constitutional on Thanksgiving Day. These easy, beautiful parks are perfect for a leisurely stroll for the whole family.

The parks are all open daily from dawn to dusk. They are listed roughly north to south throughout the Puget Sound region:

Everett Evergreen Arboretum & Gardens is situated on 3½ acres in American Legion Memorial Park includes ten themed gardens, sculptures, and ADA approved pervious pathways in most areas.

Seattle Green Lake Park is Seattle’s iconic urban park and natural preserve for hundreds of species of trees, plants, and birds. The 2.8-mile path around the lake is well-maintained and a popular recreational spot for walkers, runners, bikers, and skaters.

Seattle Commodore Park offers great views of Salmon Bay along the south side of Seattle’s Lake Washington Ship Canal (across from Ballard Locks). Water flows through the spillways and ships and boats of all sizes can be observed traversing the Ballard locks. There is a short, comfortable walk along a promenade.

Seattle Washington Park Arboretum offers year-round interest along the trails that wind through 230 acres of gardens, natural areas, and wetlands.

Seattle Olympic Sculpture Park, maintained by Seattle Art Museum is a 9-acre former industrial transformed into open and vibrant green space that provides you a unique opportunity to experience BIG art outdoors against the beauty of the Olympic Mountains (weather permitting) and Puget Sound.

Seattle Seward Park in south Seattle features an easy, flat, paved perimeter path around an old-growth forest with beautiful, natural views of Lake Washington, including Mount Rainier.

Seattle Chinese Garden is one of the largest Chinese gardens outside of China. The 4.6 acre garden is a showcase for  elements customary to Chinese gardens: plants, stones, architecture, and water. Admission is free, although donations are greatly appreciated.

Seattle Kubota Garden features a stunning 20-acres of hills and valleys, the streams, waterfalls, ponds, rock outcroppings and an exceptionally rich and mature collection of plant material. Open year-round during daylight hours.

Lake Wilderness Arboretum in Maple Valley includes five acres of display gardens and 30 acres of forest trails with a diverse plant collections in both natural and cultivated landscapes.

Highline SeaTac Botanical Garden situated on 10½ acres adjacent to the North SeaTac Community Center is a one-of-a-kind heritage location that was created to preserve some of the area’s most treasured gardens.

King County Parks system covers 26,000 acres of public lands and trails at 200 parks. Don’t know where to start? Seven of the best-known parks are: Burke-Gilman Trail, Cougar Mountain Regional Wildland Park, Interurban Trail, Marymoor Park, Rattlesnake Mountain, Sammamish River Trail, and Soos Creek Trail.

Tacoma Point Defiance Park is 760-acres including a natural forest, saltwater beaches, and spectacular views. Open daily and parking is free. The Primary trails through the park are foot trails (no bicycles). The Five Mile Drive outer loop is closed to vehicle traffic in the morning (M-F until 10AM, Sa-Su until 1PM).

Tacoma’s Ruston Way Waterfront is a stunning two-mile path along the saltwater banks of Puget Sound with views of Mount Rainier and Commencement Bay.

Tacoma Gordon Dee Alcorn Arboretum on grounds of the University of Puget Sound honors biology professor and campus arborist Gordon Alcorn tireless dedication to his students, academic excellence, and the preservation of nature and the environment.

Fort Steilacoom Park located south of Tacoma offers 340-acres of trails, which you can navigate on foot or by bike.

Multiple locations

Share

Posted by Carole Cancler on November 1, 2019 | Updated December 5, 2019 Filed Under: Holiday: November-December · Walks, hikes & running Tagged With: thanksgiving

Reader Interactions

Primary Sidebar

Subscribe to the FREE weekly email

Footer

Always Free Things To Do

Clowns with Free sign

These free things to do are open to the public nearly every day.

Always Free Things To Do

Free & cheap live music

Seattle live band music

Popular live music venues with cheap ($10) or no cover charge.

Free & cheap live music

Best happy hours

friends enjoying happy hour

75+ best places for happy hour food and drinks.

Best happy hours

Discount movies

Dog at the movies with popcorn and soda

Where and when to see movies at a discount in the Puget Sound region.

Discount movies

Free & Cheap Tours

pike place market clock

25 free tours (and a couple cheap ones) in and around Seattle.

Free & Cheap Tours

Free Birthday Food

birthday candles

50 places where you can get free food on your birthday.

Free Birthday Food

Seattle Event Calendar

man using virtual reality

Check our Seattle Event calendar for free unique fun today...or any day.

Seattle Event Calendar

Weekend things to do

seattle freeway signs

Free and cheap weekend things to do all around the region.

Weekend things to do

© 2019 Greater Seattle on the Cheap. Site design by Five J's Design.
All the stories on our site are protected by copyright and any unauthorized copying is strictly prohibited. Plus, it is just not nice.