Seattle Parks and Rec

Seattle Parks and Recreation was formed in 1887 to manage city owned parks, open spaces, Woodland Park Zoo, The Seattle Aquarium, numerous boat launches and community centers. We have over 6,200 acres of property to maintain which is equivalent to roughly 11% of the city’s total area. The departments total budget is well over $100 million dollars per year! The largest park in Seattle is Discovery Park which has 534 acres of land in the Magnolia neighborhood. The park is built on the historic grounds of Fort Lawton. Our oldest park is Denny Park which was donated in 1861 by pioneer David Denny. One of my favorite parks is hidden Schmitz Park which was donated to the city in 1908 and holds the largest remaining tract of old growth forest left in the city. If you make the effort and walk the trial system, you will feel miles away from the big city. I hope you will make some plans to enjoy one of our beautiful parks this summer!