Seattle has an abundance of viewpoints scattered around the city. This page lists objects of interest by category to help you quickly find parks where you can view that object.
Click on the park name to get details in order to determine if the view at that location meets your needs or interests.
This is far from an exhaustive list. I’ve only included locations that I’ve already previewed. As I preview more parks this page will be updated.
If the word distant is listed after a park name it means you’ll need binoculars to see details and a long lens for photography. It hopefully goes without saying that all of the mountains are very distant, and thus require at least some zoom on your camera to adequately capture them.
Boats
Ballard Locks
Commodore
Gas Works
Golden Gardens
Edmonds Olympic Beach
Fishermen’s Terminal
Magnuson, North Shore Rec Area
North Passage Point
Sunset Hill – distant
Bridges
Commodore – Salmon Bay Bridge
Ballard Locks – Salmon Bay Bridge
Gas Works – Ship Canal & Aurora – distant
Fishermen’s Terminal – Ballard Bridge
North Passage Point – University Bridge and Ship Canal Bridge
Cascade Mountains
Note: Because of the lack of elevated eastward facing parks in Seattle, views of the Cascades are severely limited. Views from parks on Lake Washington include only higher peaks due to hills on the Eastside.
Louisa Boren Lookout
Magnuson, Kite Hill
Magnuson, North Shore
Magnuson, Promontory Point
Volunteer, from water tower only – best free view in Seattle, but you have to climb the water tower steps.
Ferries
Edmonds Waterfront (Olympic, Brackett’s, Sunset – links at bottom of page)
Magnolia Boulevard – distant
Mukilteo Lighthouse Park
Lighthouses
Mukilteo Lighthouse Park
Mt. Baker
Daybreak Star
Edmonds Waterfront (Olympic, Brackett’s Landing, Sunset – links at bottom of page)
Louisa Boren
Mukilteo Lighthouse Park
Mt. Rainier (Tahoma)
Ella Bailey
Magnuson, Kite Hill
Magnuson, Promontory Point
Magnolia Boulevard
Olympic Mountains & Puget Sound
Carkeek
Edmonds Waterfront
Golden Gardens
Magnolia Boulevard
Sunset Hill
Seattle Downtown Skyline
Ella Bailey – distant
Gas Works – distant
Magnolia Boulevard – distant, partial
Mount Baker Ridge – partial
Volunteer – from water tower only
Space Needle
Ella Bailey – distant, partial
Gas Works – distant
Magnolia Boulevard – distant, partial
North Passage Point – distant
Volunteer – distant, partial
Sunsets
(See Olympics)
Park Preview 