I'll be spending 3 months in Seattle starting in September, without a car, so I will be reduced to places within the city proper (I am specifically staying in Capitol Hill). Can anyone direct me to a good track to use and preferably trails that are 75% soft. Thank you!
Being on Captiol hill you will have to cobble some dirt paths together.
I would run to volunteer park and cemetery, find a trail down to interlaken, head through the arboretum, over montlake and out to u of w to the trails of union bay natural area then the burke gilman.
There is a dirt track at Montlake.
Not sure about good tracks, maybe U of W?
Yikes, Capital Hill could be the worst part of Seattle to run in...
If you're on the north side of C.H., you could jump on a bus to get down near the University of Washington in less than 5 minutes. The Burke-Gilman trail is a paved bike path that runs along the lake for miles, and has a dirt trail next to it in most areas. Start near the stadium and run north.
The arboretum would also be close, and offer a soft surface, but not a lot of miles to cover.
If you have time on the weekends, rent a ZipCar and head up Interstate 90 to Tiger Mountain. Miles and miles of great trails.
To the west, just north of the downtown area is Discovery Park. Lots of great trails and views of Puget Sound and the Olympic Mountains, but a bus ride there could take up to 45 minutes from C.H. Watch out for bitter urban cowboys in this area.
Seattle University is just off Broadway on C.H., and last time I was there they still had an open track, but that was a few years ago.
Enjoy Seattle!
The arboretum is awesome for running! Also, check out the track at Garfield High School. It's in the Central District, but less than a mile from Cap Hill.
cclub wrote:
The arboretum is awesome for running! Also, check out the track at Garfield High School. It's in the Central District, but less than a mile from Cap Hill.
Any idea about the surface?
Rainy Man wrote:
cclub wrote:The arboretum is awesome for running! Also, check out the track at Garfield High School. It's in the Central District, but less than a mile from Cap Hill.
Any idea about the surface?
Garfield? Nice, all-weather surface. 6 lanes.
SEARCH FUNCTION, WHAAAAAAAAAAAA????
Rainy Man wrote:
I'll be spending 3 months in Seattle starting in September, without a car, so I will be reduced to places within the city proper (I am specifically staying in Capitol Hill). Can anyone direct me to a good track to use and preferably trails that are 75% soft. Thank you!
Your best bet would be to head over to the UW area which isn't far from the CH area. There are trails nearby where the UW team trains or you could run loops around the playing fields. With the exception of Volunteer Park, there is limited availability in the congested CH area.
I'd have to disagree with the folks who say Capitol Hill isn't good for running. I've been happier with running options here than on Phinney Ridge where I had good access to Woodland Park/Green Lake. They're probably all thinking about the wonders of Green Lake, but weaving through Green Lake stroller traffic gets old very quickly.
For soft surfaces, I'll reiterate that Interlaken to the Arboretum is the best bet from Capitol Hill. In the arboretum itself, you can string together about 4 miles by doing two non-overlapping loops of the park trails (there are 5 trails that run the length of the park). From there, you can stay on soft surfaces either north to the UW or south along Lake Washington (with ~1 mi on sidewalk between the Arboretum and Lake WA). There aren't many options for starting a run, but once you get off the hill toward the Arboretum, there are many choices.
puddles wrote:
For soft surfaces, I'll reiterate that Interlaken to the Arboretum is the best bet from Capitol Hill.
Yea, just be careful not to trip over all the addict needles on Interlaken.