St. Edward State Park

St. Edward State Park - April 9th, 2014

Multiple Trails, Combined Mileage: 3.5 miles

Elevation Gain: 400 feet

Kirkland, WA

Dog Friendly

Difficulty: Easy

Pass Required: WA Discover Pass

Saint Edward Seminary

Saint Edward State Park is a 316-acre park on the Northeast bank of Lake Washington.  It stratles the the cities of Kenmore and Kirkland and is only a 20 minute drive from Seattle making it the closest state park to the city.  There are around 10 different trails that can be connected with a resulting total distance of around 6 miles.  Katie, Koko, Catherine and I decided to do a combination of trails that make a circle around the perimeter of the park for a total of 3.5 miles.  It was a very easy training hike compared to the one Katie and I have been doing most recently.

Saint Edward is a really beautiful park full of lush ferns, banking the multiple streams that run through the park, a pretty sizable canopy and pretty beach on Lake Washington.  The perimeter trail also has a sizable amount of elevation loss and gain which is somewhat unexpected just because of the short length of the trail.  The park also encloses Bastyr University, which is a fully functional 4 year university.  There is also some really cool architecture.  The above picture is of the coolest building in the park, Saint Edward Seminary, which was recently added to the national historic register.  

Overall the hike was uneventful and short, but it was still good to get out, get some exercise, hang with friends and spend some time in nature.