Lynndale Park is a monster. It's so big with so much to do, we're going to talk about it like two parks. Located right where Lynnwood bleeds into Edmonds, Lynndale Park is the second-most feature-heavy park on our tour (after the vast and varied Willis Tucker Park). Just check out the map of the place. The main part of the park, which we're cleverly calling Part A, requires a little effort to find, whereas Part B, featuring the skate park, is easily accessible off of Olympic View Drive.
From a blogging perspective, we feel the need to apologize for our pictures: our phone (and therefore camera) was in its death throes during our first visit and we left Part A in a hurry because of a summer camp being held their, and in the second visit we forgot that the sun starts setting at noon in this part of the world during the winter.
PART A
What we're calling Part A is the area of the park off of 72nd Ave W, including the sports facilities, amphitheater, picnic facilities, and big playground. We'll also include the walking trails which connect the two areas. Parking is adequate in Part A, and actual decent bathrooms are available in the buildings next to the playground/picnic area.
Amenities/Facilities
Sports Surfaces
Lynndale Park boasts 4 tennis courts and 2 basketball courts; you decide if we're using "boast" a little tongue-in-cheek. We didn't do much surveying of the 3 lighted baseball fields or the soccer field, but they looked well-maintained.
The park was clearly conceived with big events in mind, so there are tons of covered and uncovered picnic areas. Reasonably priced reservation information is available here.
Since we didn't feel like being the random creep taking pictures of the YMCA day campers who were using the amphitheater, this is all the picture we got:
So we'll steal this one from the city's site:
The amphitheater hosts Shakespeare in the Park each summer, which was among our first summer activities after moving up here from Texas. We couldn't really hear or see the play, but the exposure to Washington's fine soil in the midst of a place where we had no idea where we were in the dark was invigorating.
At this point of the trip, our camera was dead. Unfortunately, nobody else seems to have many photos online we can steal, so check out the description with one actual picture of the trail on All Trails. The park's official website describes .7 miles of walking trails and .6 of nature trails, yet does not offer a differentiation. The trails are well-maintained and not too rigorous, okay for smaller kids and dogs. Fans of orienteering should check out this website from the Cascade Orienteering Club.
Play
Here you'll find plenty for the kids to do: playsets for older and younger kids, plenty of swings, and a now-rare stand-alone slide. The area is neat and large with plenty of seating for parents who want their kids to get plenty of sunshine but prefer their light to be provided by Apple and Samsung products.
PART B
For the purposes of this post, Part B is the section of Lynndale Park off of Olympic View Drive, comprised of the skate park, the smaller playground, and the little basketball court.
Amenities/Facilities
Part B is a pretty solid park unto itself, which is why we were surprised to discover that it's actually just part of the larger park. Parking is sufficient and the bathrooms are pretty nice, being fairly new. Here is a map of Part B. Fans of skating and related sports will enjoy the skate park, which our kids didn't quite comprehend usually requires a wheeled device. Another "fun" fact: the steel railings are a sculpture called "Fluid Motion." In case you were tempted, the official website commands, "NO TAGGING!"
Not pictured is the basketball key, with one regulation height hoop and another lower basket, probably 7-8 feet.
Play
If you were hoping for a somewhat nautical-themed playground in vaguely University of Washington colors, Part B has the toys for you! It's a well-maintained, standard area with a weird abacus thing, just in case you wanted to teach your children an ancient form of base 3 math or something.
Part B Update!
Shortly after posting this, we found a dozen or so more pictures from a later visit.
Lynndale took us two days to visit and a stupid amount of time to blog about; it is a monster with tons of stuff to do. We had a lot of fun in both parts of the park and found the facilities more than serviceable. The sheer volume of possibilities outweighs a lack of originality or interestingness.
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