The Olmsted Vision: Arboretum, Interlaken and Volunteer Park

The legendary Olmsted Firm's formative impact on Seattle can be sampled in a trio of parks: Washington Park Arboretum, Interlaken Park and Volunteer Park. They march in sequence to the top of Capitol Hill from the northeast, through the Montlake, Stevens and Broadway neighborhoods, respectively. On this route you'll see the vibrant residential architecture that was created for a newly prospering middle and upper class, at about the same time the Olmsted Firm embarked on a 33-year planning partnership with Seattle, in Spring of 1903.

There are cool and unusual stairways along the way too. Interlaken Park has stairs that force you to carefully watch where you're putting your feet, because each hand-hewn stone step is shaped differently from the one before. Then there's Volunteer Park Water Tower, where 106 steps spiral 75 feet up a steel staircase, sandwiched narrowly between the inner tank and the outer masonry shell. At the top you'll get 360-degree vistas of the Seattle skyline and Bellevue to the east, along with a comprehensive exhibit on the history of the Olmsted Firm in Seattle.

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Louisa Boren was a member of the Denny party that landed at Alki in 1851 to found Seattle. In 1853 she married David Denny, younger brother of the party's leader, in Seattle's first non-native wedding. Louisa was David's life partner through many of the projects that built Seattle, and for a time made the Dennys the wealthiest family in the city. The panic of 1893 almost entirely wiped them out, and David Denny took various jobs into his late 60s in order to support the family. He died at age 71.

Louisa Boren Park was carved out of Interlaken Park in 1913. At the time she died, in 1916, Louisa was the last surviving member of the Denny party.

The route near the beginning passes straight ahead past a small play area; to enter the bulk of the Arboretum, you'd turn left here to cross the Wilcox Trestle

The Stevens neighborhood is filled with lovely houses and yards; here a Tulip tree blossoms in early Spring

Volunteer Park Cafe is a neighborhood fixture...with great food

Cherry blossoms near the end of the route, on a wet Spring day near the end of the walk

Maple Leaf and Thornton Creek

For a kaleidoscopic view of nature, urban art and environmental design, this Seattle stairway walk is unparalleled! Thornton Creek, the biggest year-round creek in Seattle, provides the running theme for this exploration of Seattle stairs. You'll cross and re-cross it; view it bank-side; stand on a bridge viewing it from tree-canopy height; and see how it's engineered by humans and animals (yup, beavers)! At 4.7 miles, this is the longest stairway walk in the book, full of interesting things to do and see.

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Looking down into the Knickerbocker Flood Plain, Kingfisher Natural Area

Creekside view at La Villa Meadows Natural Area

A side trip down an unpaved lane leads to a beautiful view of Thornton Creek; a trail on the other side, just out of the frame to the right, begs for future exploration

This view overlaps right side of picture above, one year later

A close view of beaver handiwork

"Bad Buoys" is part of a sculptural suite by Benson Shaw at Thornton Creek Water Quality Channel

Thornton Creek Water Quality Channel (TCWQC): designed for urban nature

A discreet entryway: NE 95th Street stairs


Finishing up: heading down the NE 95th Street stairs to Lake City Way