Thea's park is a great place to get some fresh air and enjoy what Washington has to offer! While…read morethe park itself is small you can continue to walk down the waterway and it ends up being quite a nice walk. The park itself is mostly a grass area with small beach access, a few tables, and beautiful views. Come during the right time and you can see all sorts of marine life. I see seals and/or sea lions almost every time I come this time of year, otters are fairly common, and when the salmon come through (August-ish) you can see them jump. This park is tucked away enough that it allows you to kind of forget you're in Tacoma while still being super close to finding a new restaurant to try.

Love this little area. It is not a park, but a hangout spot rather. There is no play structure,…read morejust grass and a couple benches. Great place for an afternoon picnic. The parking lot is always full on the weekends, you may have trouble finding a spot.

A little hidden gem. Went over twice to off leash my dogs in private. Fairly secluded. Hike further…read moredown and you'll see the freeway and the Tacoma Dome. Great walking spot. Definitely will come again.

I arrived a little early in the area and needed a place to burn some time - enter McKinley park…read more This is a fairly large park in the McKinley neighborhood and bumps up against I5. There are several trails to walk on along with an off-leash dog park. It was raining cats & dogs on the day I went, so I just kinda followed along with the trees to use nature's umbrella. Seems like this place would be lovely on hot days as well! Near the freeway I found some very, very old looking pillars, kinda like they used to mark an entrance or something? Most certainly older than I5? My research says yes! Land was gifted by the Tacoma Land & Improvement Company in 1901 and the area went from "East Park" to McKinley, named after the president. McKinley park is one of the oldest parks in Tacoma network and it was reduced in size to put the freeway in in the 1960s so the pillars definitely are a relic of the past. The trails have some elevation to them, but they're really not bad. Good to get a little exercise in! Trails were covered in leaves when I went, but clearly well maintained. I didn't see any fishies in the pond, but the different layers of leaves in the water made it really pretty! I'm very curious what this looks like during the spring time. The closer you get to the freeway the louder it gets (duh), but if you can tune that out this is a really great park! I've seen some complaints about the parking situation. I'm unclear what we're "officially" supposed to do, I didn't see a lot or anything with the direction I went so I just dumped the car a few blocks away in the neighborhood and walked.

Chambers Creek Regional Park is one of my favorite places throughout the year. They have a wide…read morerange of activities at this park, such as golfing, biking, skateboarding, walking, running, picnicking, kite flying, and beer festivals. There's a pretty lengthy trail close to the street that also leads to the Chambers Bay Grill. At the grill, they host special events, weddings, and personal celebrations. The Grill has an average set of drinks on tap and a pretty decent food menu as well as outdoor seating for those who want to continue to take in the breathtaking views around the park. Additionally, there are several strategically placed Scenic Overlook/viewpoint areas where you can sit, take in a magnificent view of the sound and landscape of the golf course. I usually come here at least 2-3 times a month to walk down the steep decline to the golf course area/trail over to a bridge that extends slightly into the sound. Here is my meditative space - somewhere I can go for some quiet reflection.

If you're looking for a park with tons of space and amazing views, you've found it here! Chambers…read moreCreek is HUGE! It's an old sand and gravel quarry turned golf course and park. I didn't see any playgrounds or splash pads while we were there but if you're hosting a picnic, BBQ or want to set up a volleyball net and have a tournament, this is a great place to do that. Mostly, I think that this park is best for folks who like to walk, run or jog a lot. They have a path along the road at the top of the park with some stunning views of water and Olympic peninsula from that path. The park has multiple walking paths with different levels of difficulty so I'm sure you'll find one to suit your needs. At the bottom of the park is some huge grassy areas that stretch a few acres right up to the water and it's a great place if you like to watch trains go by. They have at least one covered gathering place that you can rent and they can set up temporary tents if you need to rent space for your event. The park staff is friendly and always keeping an eye on things from their little offroad vehicles. They offer you extra trash bags if you've rented a space and they keep the park feeling safe and secure. I don't know much about golf, but the Chambers Creek golf course intertwines with the park so if you're a golfer, you can check it out. I hope to visit this park in the future and see what else I may be able to find. Until then, Cheers!

The park is nice for a quick walk. It is not very big but it has both paved walkways as well as a…read moretrail that goes back to a wetland area. It is usually not packed so it's nice and quiet most of the time. It can also serve as a short cut (by foot or bike only)from the surrounding neighborhoods to 19th Street (near Fred Meyer, Foss HS, Cheney Stadium).

This is a small park that has a playfield and paved & unpaved trails…read more When I went I noticed there's probably a few camps closer to the Fred Meyers, but I didn't see any active problems and the people I came across were also just there to walk. Not a destination, but if you're in the area looking to mix up your walking trail it's not a bad choice.

Sometimes you want to go for a hike...and sometimes you want a scenic drive. Today, I was…read morerecovering from several days of walking, but still wanted to enjoy the beauty that Washington has to offer. The Five Mile Drive was a perfect solution-I got to see gorgeous views from the comfort of my car. Of course, there are many ways to enjoy this five mile stretch of road. Cars are welcome (pay attention to times-the road closes to motor vehicles at certain times/days), or you can walk, bike or jog the road. There are several scenic overlook areas along the road, so you can pull off and take a look beyond the road. The whole thing really is beautiful. Drive carefully and slowly. Pay attention to those around you. There's plenty of space for everyone, as long as we all are considerate of each other. And enjoy those views!

One of the many features to Point Defiance Park. Fuve Mile Drive is a five mile loop that takes you…read morefurther back into the park and where you can get views of the Narrows Bridge and Puget Sound. As you stroll through you will encounter raccoons and deer in which they aren't afraid of you in the slightest. The raccoons look like you should give them a snack which you should not. Even though they may not run from you they are still wild animals and should not be pet or fed human food. When I first moved to the area you could drive Five Mile Drive every time you went to the park practically but in recent times the road is often closed and walking it is encouraged instead.

I saw the City of Lakewood post about Wards Lake Park's recent renovation and added it to our list…read moreof parks to check out during spring break. So glad we discovered this new to us spot! This property is pretty big. We GPSed to the north entry of the park not realizing how far the south was. We started at the big north playground which my kids loved. Huge wooden play structures with lots to climb on, and there's an awesome bike/scooter track which we will definitely be back to visit. There's lots of trails to explore too! If our kids were a little older we probably would've walked the trails to the south part of the park, but we were unsure how long that would take with our youngest so we decided to drive. It was about 5 minutes away, so probably was a good call. The south playground is much smaller but my kids still enjoyed it. There's swings, a little excavation toy, and two huge slides that my kids went down a ton of times. There's also a picnic table right near the playground which was the perfect spot for lunch time. So glad that we got to check out this park and it'll definitely be added to our summer rotation.

Ward Lake Park has more potential than what it has achieved at this point. I felt like the most…read morescenic part of this park was from the parking lot where you can walk to one tip of the lake. It had geese and a crain that we admired as well as three different colors of dragonflies flying around on a pier. There are lots of trails that go into the wooded areas and the three or four loops that all interconnected are fun to walk on. As you continue on one particular trail past the loops in the direction of the interstate things get more uncomfortable and less scenic. On the path that goes in this direction, the lake path I believe it is called goes through an asphalt paved circle that has since become overgrown. Around here and past that we encountered homeless people and there was rubbish all over the place back there . There were several paths that started from the asphalt area and the brush was not cut back as much so that was another reason if we wanted to go further. Not only that but Ward Lake isn't quite as pretty here like how it is by the parking because the surface of the lake has moss or algae growing on top of it and you don't get to see much of the lake itself at that point because of this. So if you decide to do Ward Lake I'd suggest to stay close to the parking lot and enjoy the lake from that end and don't go too far on the path designated as the Lake Path.

Point Ruston is the ultimate quick tourist destination…read more This waterfront area has it all. They've got shopping, food, activities, lounge areas, and insane views of the lake and Mount Rainier! It was so nice to stroll around and have lunch while soaking in all the gorgeous views. Really chill, but can get a bit crowded since lots of families frequent this area. Huge bonus points for the free parking in the garage!

Lots going on at Point Ruston in Tacoma!!…read more At the park area, there is large paved path with great views of Commencement Bay, with what looks like high end condos all along this area. Then, there is the shopping center area, with restaurants, a movie theatre, more condominiums, the Silver Cloud Hotel, and Waterfront Market. I was here a few days while it was very sunny and warm, and lots of people were here. A far cry from long ago, when this whole area was nothing but a wasteland, it's pretty amazing what can be done nowadays. Definitely a great place to go, when the weather is nice, in Tacoma!!

It's a small park but nice. There's a nice walking path, but it's kinda small. Great for the…read moreelderly to walk around and loosen up. Came here with the dogs and it was okay. We sat at a picnic table, walked the path, then left. I'm never against any park, but there's not much to it. There's a playground with a nice grassy field, but one family playing soccer kinda took up the whole space. Don't walk around here with flip flops- the bark and the pine needles had a way of staying inside the flip flip and not leaving my foot. That was super irksome. There was an ant hill with very large ants that our dogs almost ran into but we somehow saw it in time to stop them.

Good park off of Bridgeport Way W in University Place! There is a fair amount of area to utilize…read morethe trails here but it's not such a big park where you could become overwhelmed or disoriented with the amount of trails and paths to walk. The park isn't as big as it looks once you start walking but the large forested charm is what won me over to go in here in the first place. There's some equipment for small children and some nice, short trails for the adults.