Ship Canal and Burke Gilman Trails

Wednesday brought Seattle some sunshine, so a friend and I decided to take advantage of it on our longboards. I usually find that riding along the ship canal trail is a great spot to practice flat ground tricks and dancing because its not particularly crowded, but we opted to continue across the Fremont bridge and onto the Burke Gilman trail. This is usually packed with cyclists and joggers, but we left around 6pm, so we had the trail almost entirely to ourselves. A great thing about the Burke Gilman is that it runs from Golden Gardens all the way to the northern end of Lake Washington at Kenmore, providing seemingly endless pavement.

While the trail isn't completely flat, the downhills are fun to practice various dance steps down, and the uphills are never so extreme as to force you to walk. If you're more into the downhill style of longboarding and not so much cruising, there are numerous roads along the trail to pull off and get some real speed. One of my new favorites is the Rainier Vista at the University of Washington, which goes directly under the Burke Gilman near Husky Stadium. The road isn't as smooth as it could be, but both sides are lined with beautiful cherry trees that are currently in full blossom. If the sky is clear enough you can see Mt. Rainier as well, just as suggested by the street name. This road leads down into the parking garage where you can continue to ride, but exercise caution. Like the Burke Gilman, this road also tends to fill up with pedestrians, (it's closed to vehicles) so make sure you go between commuting hours, unless you're looking for a bit of extra excitement. Give it a shot and let me know what you think!
peace

Film Credit: JK