in Lynnwood
Lynnwood sits at the north end of the light rail, for now, about half an hour from downtown Seattle, with a lot more to it than the ride. An unofficial invitation: its parks, its story, and a train you can drive.
"For now": the line is planned to reach Everett in phases between 2037 and 2041.
The window seat
Scroll, and the world slides past the window. Each place pulls in like a station.
Stop 1 · the start of the line
Light rail reached Lynnwood on 30 August 2024, 85 years after the last Interurban car. From here a train gets you to Westlake, in downtown Seattle, in about half an hour.
The Interurban Trail and the Scriber Creek Trail meet the line at the station, so a walk can start right off the platform.
Stop 2 · central Lynnwood
A lake with wetlands in an urban forest, right in the middle of town. The city bought its 22 acres, lake and all, in 1982.
A new boardwalk of about 1,100 feet runs along the water with two viewpoints, and a floating boardwalk has replaced the old 1981 dock.
Open in Google Maps Photo: PinchyCC, CC BY 4.0
Stop 3 · west Lynnwood
The city's largest park, with about 22 acres of it kept as native forest.
Deep in the trees sits an amphitheater that hosts Shakespeare in the Park in summer. There is a skate park too, and an orienteering course for getting pleasantly lost.
Open in Google Maps Drawn here: no free photo of this place yet.
Stop 4 · north to south through town
Lynnwood's 3.8-mile stretch follows the route of the electric railway that ran between Seattle and Everett from 1910 to 1939.
Today it is a 12-foot-wide path for walking and cycling, from north Seattle through Lynnwood and on to Everett. Same route, much quieter.
Open in Google Maps Photo: Ekaune, CC BY-SA 3.0
Stop 5 · Poplar Way
Home of Interurban Car No. 55, the last restored car of the six that carried commuters from Alderwood Manor to Seattle and Everett.
The water tower and the superintendent's cottage are all that survive of the 1917 Alderwood Manor Demonstration Farm, and the 1919 Wickers Building was the Manor's first store and post office.
Open in Google Maps Photo: PinchyCC, CC BY 4.0
Stop 6 · just north of the city
A Snohomish County park just outside the city limits, where a 1.25-mile trail drops down Lund's Gulch to Puget Sound.
In 2023 a new railroad bridge replaced the old culvert, restoring a small estuary for salmon and opening a path under the tracks to the beach.
Open in Google Maps Drawn here: no free photo of this place yet.
Stop 7 · 44th Avenue West
Water slides, a lazy river and a water playground, plus a lap pool under a roof that partly opens. It reopened in April 2011 after a renovation of about $25 million.
Handy from October to March, when Seattle gets more than three-quarters of its year's rain.
Open in Google Maps Drawn here: no free photo of this place yet.
Stop 8 · Sno-Isle Libraries
The Sno-Isle Libraries branch on 44th Avenue West, less than a mile from the light rail station.
Besides the books, it lends bike locks, and seeds for the garden.
Stop 9 · lunch, near Edmonds College
A family-run banh mi shop near Edmonds College, and not a chain.
The Infatuation rates its banh mi the best in the Seattle area. Worth the ride on its own.
Open in Google Maps Drawn here: no free photo of this place yet.
