The Best Dog-friendly Trails in Seattle 2023

One of the best things moving to Seattle is the abundant opportunities to explore the beautiful nature. The parks, the trails, the mountains, the lakes, you can have them all! Of course, one of our mandatory criteria for those places is, dog-friendly! How can we leave PJ out of any fun?!

Below are a few trails that we have explored so far and keep going back to them, so definitely recommend!

Wallace Falls State Park Trail

A beautiful trail not too far from home (less than an hour drive). We have been there for a few times. The trail is well laid out, clean (i.e. PJ does not get too dirty) and reasonably challenging (i.e. not too flat nor too steep). There are variety of landscapes to look at – a super clear river where PJ likes to go do a dip, mossed-rainforest gives a fairy touch, a few waterfalls with rainbows when sun shines on them, a spot to look at the Olympic skyline, and a bit of clime ups and downs to give the exercise some intensity.

Lake Twenty-Two Trail

Similar distance from home, good it is not too far. We went there once so far during the winter, where there were still snows (and some part is very thick snows). It is not very long to reach to the lake but walking through it is a bit harder than expected (probably same for PJ as she was trembling when she was walking on those very thick snows). The lake is not too big but the color is just stunning! Very very beautiful. We saw it covered mostly under the snow but we also saw some online pictures of its summer appearance and it is the same! Also the trail itself has a wide variety of landscapes to look, part of it is rocky and it also has waterfall 😍

Tolt-MacDonald Park Trail

A very interesting place, start with very very flat area, then went all the way up to the top of the hill (or mountain?), which is also relatively flat. The far view from the path way is astonishing, and the trail itself is reasonably easy. And it is clean as well…Again, about an hour from home, great!

Tiger Mountain Trail

Just off Highway 90, similar distance from home (~hour). We went to this trail a few times, we discovered it during our temporary stay in Redmond. The impression is, it is very very green 🌳🌲and many many “mossed” trees (which again, give a fairy feeling). Ups and downs, some parts are a bit challenging and then you go through a part to rest a bit before the next challenge comes up. Also there is a few big (I mean huge) rocks along the way…

Discovery Park Trail

This is the first trail we went as our realtor recommended to us as a great place for dog, so we went. It is in the city in a beautiful region (Magnolia), and it is very big, so it is good 😎 This is also the first time PJ smells the beautiful nature of Seattle. A great get-away place inside the city!

Snow Lake Trail

The first time we went there was in winter, and unfortunately it was closed (now we know it is probably “unwalkable”, you will know why later). It is May now, so we decided to go to give it another try… Yeah, it is open, so we go! After just a few minutes, we started to encounter snows on the trail, well, I thought it is just a little, so no worries (we are not prepared to hike in snows!). As we went on, the snow gets thicker and thicker… For me who is scared of walking on icy snow, this is a torture! Step by step, super slow. Then after a while, you are deep into it, so there is no turning back! 6.8 miles in and out, I literally crawled my way. Luckily Eric is handling PJ (of course she is happy like a champ, digging holes in the snow, zoom a few rounds 😨), I have no attention to them so whatever 😎 The scenery along the trail is beautiful, and the lake is still completely covered under the ice (it is May already!). So after all it is worth it, but if you ask me whether I will come again when the snow is so thick covering most of the trails, the answer is…. NOOOO! But we might come back when there is no snow… The online evaluation of difficulty is moderate, I doubt it with snow condition, without snow, maybe! The most frustrating part is, while I was crawling slowly my way up and down, many young kids/teenagers just pass by me quickly with shorts, duh, am I really that old?! Anyway… we might come back to see the lake revealing itself when everything is melted.