Seattle's swimming beaches the Parks Department runs

Seattle guards its freshwater swimming from a fixed calendar: some beaches open May 23 and shut in late August, others wait until June 27 and run to September 7, and knowing which is which decides whether a Labor Day weekend swim happens at all. Every beach here is staffed by Seattle Parks and Recreation, weekdays 12 to 7 and weekends 11 to 7 in season, and every one offers free swim lessons for ages 6 to 16. The entries carry the dates, the dock type, and which diving boards are actually in the water, since several come down early when the lake level drops.

Places in this collection

  • West Green Lake Beach — The longest guarded season the city runs, May 23 to September 7, and the only one of the pair on Green Lake open for swimming: the east bea…
  • Pritchard Island Beach — Rainier Beach's stretch of Lake Washington, guarded June 27 to August 23 off a floating dock with no diving board. It doubles as the south-…
  • Mount Baker Beach — Fine gravel underfoot rather than sand, on the west shore of Lake Washington just south of the I-90 crossing. Guarded June 27 to September…
  • Matthews Beach — Seattle's largest freshwater beach by shoreline runs guarded from June 27 to September 7, off a floating dock with 1 metre and 3 metre boar…
  • Magnuson — The shortest guarded window of the north-end beaches, June 27 to August 23, with a fixed dock and no diving board at all. That makes it the…
  • Madrona — Guarded from May 23, five weeks before most of the Lake Washington beaches open, but closing on August 23 rather than running into Septembe…
  • Madison — One of the four Lake Washington beaches guarded through to September 7, opening June 27. The swimming area is marked off a floating dock ca…

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