A Great Stairway for a Rainy Day

Based on our own observations here in West Seattle, neighborhood walkers rarely shy away from a rainy day. If you have that "rain or shine" sensibility, try your rainy-day luck with the Horton street stairway, which heads down from 37th Avenue S in Mount Baker. It's a beautiful 100-step edifice that incorporates a cascading sluiceway down one side. On a sufficiently rainy day, the stream will accompany you down the stairs before pouring out of the mouth of a gargoyle at the bottom. This is yet another example of the delightful things you'll see when you explore Seattle stairs!

The stairway is not on our Mount Baker stairway walk, but you can easily combine the two into a customized route of your own. From the bottom of the Horton stairs it's a scenic 0.9 mile, one-way stroll to the main route's starting place, which itself is 2.4 miles long. With the Horton stairs as an added side trip, you'll also enjoy a tree-lined stretch of Mount Baker Boulevard. This wide, park-like residential avenue is in fact a 3.6 acre City Park.

To find additional views of the Horton stairs, check out our links over on the sidebar: "Inventory of Seattle Stairs of 100 Steps or More" by Doug Beyerlein, and "All Stairs Seattle Guide" by Susan Ott and Dave Ralph. 

Horton Street stairs on a rainy day - Photo by Stephanie Wilson

Mount Baker

Among Seattle stairs, the Dose Terrace steps are one of the classics. This stairway features an inlaid brass sign at the top, an ornate wedding cake-like balcony near the bottom and fantastic views across Lake Washington. This Seattle stairway walk starts with a flourish, but it continues on a series of high notes, carrying into beautiful Colman Park before turning into the residential neighborhood. There you'll encounter more cool stairways, and scenic and historical highlights at every turn: Bradner Gardens Park; the East Portal Viewpoint; and Mount Baker Ridge Viewpoint.

The slideshow marked by the "www" icon includes additional pictorial content referenced in the book; see more pictures and a side-trip suggestion below the slideshow.

 

We love Bradner Gardens Park! It has so many working parts - P-Patch; demonstration garden; nice views of downtown; an incredible log sculpture depicting the life-cycle of salmon (including a kingfisher eating a fry). Check out the amazing unisex bathroom!

Photo by Joyce Moty
Bradner bathroom mosaic artists: Liz, Joyce, and Gyda (Photo by Clair Cloquitt)

Mount Baker Ridge Viewpoint is a highlight of this walk; from here you can see Puget Sound and the Olympic Mountains through the gap left by the Dearborn Regrade (partially hidden by tree on right)

From the start of this route, it's a 0.9 mile one-way side trip over to the Horton Street stairs, which feature a water-spouting gargoyle at the bottom (rainy days only)! Check out the picture here.