Sunset Hill Park551

This small open park, located in the quiet Ballard neighborhood of Sunset Hill, isn't much more than a lawn and a footpath along one of the best views in the city. It sits on a steep bluff that overlooks Golden Gardens and the Shilshole Marina. People gather here at sunset in the summer to watch the sun go down behind a panoramic view of the Olympic Mountains and to play with their kids on the grass. Shilshole Bay below is alive with sailboats, and two ferry runs (Seattle-Bainbridge and Edmonds-Kingston) can be seen on their back-and-forth trips across the water. A lone picnic table sits at one end of the park, but we prefer to sit on the lush, well-maintained grass with a blanket. Listen for sea lions barking on their platform out in the water, and watch for birds - resident Anna's hummingbirds, bushtits, Bewick's wrens, and Steller's Jay's - in the trees and brambles on the bluff.