Best Kept Secret in Seattle: Bhy Kracke Park

Bhy Kracke Park

1215 5th Ave. N, Seattle, WA 98109

(206) 684-4075

It's tucked away, carved into a residential area on the southeast slope of Queen Anne Hill—a place you generally wouldn't go unless you lived there. It's a pristine patch of green, with a panoramic sweep of downtown, Lake Union, and the west side of Capitol Hill, and a view to the north on blue-sky days that goes all the way to Mount Baker. But what sets Bhy Kracke Park apart—it's named for Werner "Bhy" Kracke, who lived above the property for many years and came up with the idea to turn it into green space (he died before he could see his dream fulfilled)—and makes it the perfect urban pocket park is its verticality. Pass the bright flowers and descend a narrow, sinuous path that snakes through the trees and bushes, splitting halfway down to the bottom, where the payoff is a covered picnic space with a single table and a small playground. You can—and should—take the bus there: Catch a 2 or 13 up the hill and get off at Highland Avenue. Don't go west to Kerry Park; head straight to the east, bearing left, right, and left past Third Avenue North onto Bigelow, then follow the street's curve around to Comstock Place and the city's most spectacular dead end. MICHAEL MAHONEY seattle.gov/parks/park_detail.asp?id=304

Source: Seattle Weekly