happyly approved

Sunset School Park & Playground

17800 10th Ave NW, Shoreline, WA 98177, USA

6 a.m. - 10 p.m.

$

bike-trails, playground, run

A multipurpose park, climbing playground, garden, beginner bike space, covered play area, and basketball court for all ages, with mountain and water views!

 

Sunset School Park is a well-cared for and versatile community park in Shoreline, WA. First, the playground: it has something for kids of all ages. There are five big kid swings, two little kid (bucket) swings, and one accessible swing. The ground is made of bouncy playground rubber, so if your little ones eat bark chips or don’t like mud puddles, this would be a great spot for them. There are four other play structures, all full of fun options for kids who like to climb. One is designed for kids aged 2-5 with dual slides, a ladder, and a fake rock stepping ladder. The other large structure is designed for 5-12-year-olds and is full of rope climbing features, a rubber bridge, and a slide. There is also a large metal, dome-ish climbing piece (also designed for 5-12-year-olds) and a smaller, neon green structure that littler ones can scramble in and out of and climb on top of if they’re feeling brave.

 

There are two large fields at Sunset School Park. One is on the east side and at a higher elevation has a better view of the mountains and the water. An asphalt path rings the park, great for strollers, wheelchairs, or little bike riders (there’s a ramp up from the lower, playground level). It’s fenced, but there are open gates, so if you have a runner be warned. In non-Covid times, this is used regularly by local youth soccer, baseball, and softball teams and is also used as a place to throw balls for dogs. The other field is on the lower level and contains a community garden with over 40 raised garden beds. Look, but don’t touch. The food either belongs to local gardeners or are destined for food banks.

 

But wait, there’s more. Is it raining? Probably, this is Seattle. Sunset Park has a large covered shelter you can watch the kids play from. The floor of the shelter has hopscotch, the alphabet, and foursquare painted in white on the grey cement ground. Bring a basketball because it also has two basketball hoops (a third hoop is outside of the shelter).

 

This is also a great park for littles learning to ride their bikes. The covered shelter is large enough for them to practice outside of the rain and there are other cement areas they can whiz around on. Best of all for your tiny daredevils, a (very small) dirt hill on the east end near the south parking lot has been carved into a mini-bike jump.

 

There are a number of benches, four picnic tables, and ample trash, compost, and recycling bins. There is also one porta-potty. You have three parking options: the largest in the south end, the smallest (6 spots) in the north end. All are off of 10th Avenue and free.

 

It’s definitely a community park with junior high aged kids hanging out on their own. In my experience, the kids have been incredibly kind and respectful of little ones (one pre-teen boy gently helped my frightened four-year-old out of a swing when I couldn’t get to him quickly enough). Murals adorn the inside and outside of the shelter, wooden, painted cut-outs of birds decorate the chain-link fence. The metal sculpture in the southwest corner is part of Shoreline’s public art program (To learn more about the program, see the City of Shoreline website).

Please refer to the City of Shoreline's website for Covid regulations or restrictions.

Features

Good for All Ages Stroller-friendly Playground Baby Swings Dog-friendly Scenic Views Big Kid Swings Basketball
Thoughtfully captured by:
Jessica Ziparo
Jessica Ziparo is from Westhampton Beach, NY. She earned her BA from James Madison University in Virginia, where she majored in history. From there, she went to Harvard Law School, earning her JD. After working as an environmental attorney for three years, Jessica returned to the east coast to earn her PhD in history from Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore, MD. She has taught history at Salem State University, expository writing at Harvard, and English literature at Pritzker College Prep, a charter high school in Chicago. She is the author of, This Grand Experiment: When Women Entered the Federal Workforce in Civil War-Era Washington, D.C. (2017). Jessica loves to travel and explore. She has lived in Australia twice, journeyed solo to Kenya and Tanzania to go on a safari, spent six weeks on her own trekking around Thailand, and has backpacked around Europe with friends three times. She found bungee jumping scarier than skydiving and now regrets running with the bulls. Nowadays, Jessica lives in Seattle with her husband, Labrador Lincoln, and two sons Zane (almost 5) and Niall (almost 2). During COVID times, Jessica has expanded her exploring throughout the city and beyond to keep the kids outside, active, and safe. She is excited to become a happyly ambassador and have greater purpose for roaming the PNW.
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