Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
DON'T MISS…
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Loop Trail
»
West Point Lighthouse
PRACTICALITIES
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MAP
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Fort Lawton
The peninsula occupied by the park was originally Fort Lawton, an army base estab-
lished in 1897 to protect Seattle from unnamed enemies. Fort Lawton didn't see much
action until WWII, when it was used as barracks for troops bound for the Pacific. Over
the course of the war it held up to 1400 German and Italian prisoners. When the fort
was declared surplus property in the 1960s, the City of Seattle decided to turn it into a
park, but various historic buildings from the fort remain.
Orientation & Trails
For a map of the park's trail and road system, stop by the
Discovery Park Environ-
mental Learning Center
( 206-386-4236; 3801 W Government Way; 8:30am-5pm)
near the Government Way entrance. Here you can organize educational programs in-
cluding Saturday nature walks, day camps for children and bird-watching tours. The
main walking trail is the 3-mile-long
Loop Trail
, part of a 12-mile network of marked
paths that includes the shoreline-hugging North and South Beach Trails. About a mile
off the Loop Trail is the still-functioning
West Point Lighthouse
, a great spot for pan-
oramic views of the Sound and mountains to the west. Seventeen acres in the north of
the park are Native American land and home to the
Daybreak Star Indian Cultural
Center
, a community center for Seattle-area Native Americans. Visitor facilities are
limited, but the spot offers one of the best vistas of the Sound.
