Kirkland: Saint Edward State Park

For a hilly, wooded off-road run in Seattle’s eastern suburbs, Saint Edward State Park is a good bet. Located on the grounds of a former seminary, this relatively new park on the Kirkland/Kenmore border is the largest undeveloped piece of land on Lake Washington. There are several miles of trails covering 326 acres, including 3,000 feet of shoreline. Near the main parking area, the are some lovely open lawns and fields. Most of the rest of the terrain is fairly wooded  — this is easy-to-moderate trail running. Note that the Beach Trail doesn’t really have water views. Note: Some of the trails are quite narrow.

This park map shows the different trails, with ratings on their difficulty. It’s downhill headed toward the lake. We’ve mapped a route around the outer perimeter. Starting from the parking lot, the route follows the North Trail-Beach Trail-S Ridge-Water Tower-Plateau-Entrance-Juanita-Arrowhead. It’s 5k, with a 500 foot gain!