I will be staying one day in Kirkland, WA. The hotel that I stay at (the Woodmark) does not have a very good gym (treadmill). Is there somewhere I can do an 8-10 mile run nearby? I can drive to the location. Paths around Lake Washington? Some park with nice trails? A residential area with nice roads?
Thanks,
David
Hi David,
Lots of people run and bike the Burke-Gilman trail…
http://www.cityofseattle.net/...keGilman/bgtrail.htm
It runs for about 14 miles around the northwest corner of Lake Washington, from Bothell through Ballard. It’s a dedicated foot and bike path that primarily follows the water. If you’re staying at the Woodmark, that’s on Carillon Point (beautiful hotel and spa, by the way… I live just a few minutes north of there), and you can get to the B-G trail by the following, either by car or foot, although I’d recommend driving (total distance as described below = ~6.5 mi):
Head N on Lake Washington Blvd / Lake St. This will take you through downtown Kirkland. Left on Central, then right to head up and over Market St. Keep going straight, as market will turn into 98th, then into 100th. 100th will eventually turn into Waynita. Stay on Waynita down the hill through Wayne golf course. You’ll see the clubhouse on your left after crossing over a bridge. Just past the clubhouse will be a gravel parking lot on your left, where you can park your car if necessary, and enter the trail. Once on the trail, you can run in either direction. As you face the clubhouse, standing in the gravel lot, if you turn right, you’ll be at the very start of the north end of the B-G as designated in the link above. If you turn left, you’ll be able to run on the Sammamish River Trail:
http://www.metrokc.gov/.../sammamishriver.html
This will wind along the river and eventually connect up with Marymoor Park:
http://www.metrokc.gov/parks/marymoor/
Either direction will provide plenty of length for your run.
If you have any more questions, please don’t hesitate to shoot me a PM!
-ryan
I lived in downtown Kirkland for years and had several loops that you could do leaving from your hotel. The 6 mile loop has a huge hill at the beginning and the 3 mile loop is flat. They overlap a little, but IMO it’s more scenic and challenging than running on the Burke-Gilman trail.
6mile loop:
Leave Woodmark Hotel and go toward Lake Washington Blvd (LWB). Turn right onto LWB.
At the redlight turn left onto Northup Way
At the first redlight, turn left onto 108th Ave NE (go up steep hill for .9 miles)
Continue on this road for about 2.5 miles. When you cross NE 68th, it changes names to 6th St.
When you get to Central Way, turn left onto Central Way and run toward the water.
Turn left onto Lake Washington Blvd and continue until you return to your hotel (some maps call it Lake St at first and then it changes names to LWB)
3 mile loop:
If you run this loop after the 6 mile loop, turn left when you arrive at Carillon Point (where your hotel is) onto Lakeview Dr (slight uphill).
At the redlight, turn left onto State Street.
At the stopsign, turn left onto Kirkland Ave.
Turn left at Lake St/LWB and run back to your hotel.
Hope this helps.
Thanks… both of you for your thoughts.