Public Stairway Walk: "Alki from Above"

Recently, we led a public stairway walk along the route described in Chapter 18, "Alki from Above." We volunteered as Walking Ambassadors for Feet First, a membership organization that promotes neighborhood walkability and walking. They're currently working with King County on the "West Seattle In Motion" campaign. About 20 people joined us to explore North Admiral and Alki and enjoy all the georgeous Fall colors!  

Our 3.4 mile loop began just outside the southeast corner of Schmitz Preserve Park, heading along residential streets through North Admiral. Then at College Street Ravine we began a steep, curving descent down the bluff toward Alki Beach. A series of stairways took us down to the Alki Beach Trail, where we strolled beachside for a few blocks. 

Heading back, we took a well-hidden set of stairs that led us farther up the bluff toward Admiral Way and Schmitz Preserve Park. Just past the vintage 1936 bridge over the ravine, we stepped down a corkscrewing timber stairway into the park. There, a trail led us across Schmitz Creek and up and out the far southeast end of the ravine toward our starting place. We got lucky, nearing the end of our loop just as rain started up!

This was a fun tour of Seattle stairs at an especially colorful time of year for urban hiking. Feet First does good work, and we hope to do more public walks of Seattle stairways with them.

Alki from Above

The face of Duwamish Bluff in North Admiral is laced with multiple stairways and narrow, leafy lanes that wind steeply down towards Alki Beach. On this stairway walk you'll stroll a "boardwalk" next to the beach, with great views of the Olympics and Sound and lots of cafes and restaurants nearby. Then you'll turn back up through the neighborhood, where one of those patented "hidden" Seattle stairways takes you back up the bluff. You'll cross over a cool 30s-era concrete bridge, where you can look down into forested Schmitz Park Preserve and its creek, flowing far below. The Preserve is one of just two remaining old-growth forests in Seattle, and a set of switchbacking timber steps take you down to explore it. 

The slideshow marked with the "www" icon contains extra pictorial content referenced in the book. See additional pictures below that.

 

Group walk: a stretch of leafy lane down the bluff

Two flights of the 53rd Avenue stairs

To the Bonair Street stairs

View from the 56th Avenue stairs, heading back up the bluff

The 1936 Schmitz Park Bridge was an innovation in its time

Seattle City Parks' trail map reveals a delightful network of trails, streams and ravines