The City of Shoreline's free community walks run from April through November. Five group walks are on the November calendar. The first goes to Bitter Lake Park on Tuesday, November 3, and the last, on Tuesday, November 24, heads down to the 148th Street light rail station and stops on the way back to see the footbridge being built over I-5. In between, the routes pass two cemeteries, a college campus and City Hall.
Walked in order, the schedule works as a three-week tour of how the city is changing. Each route starts somewhere familiar. Most of them pass something newer before they loop back. The season's final walk is officially titled "Apartment Land," and its last stop before returning to the start is the footbridge the city plans to set over the freeway this month.
The basics are the same for every walk. All of them are free and need no sign-up: you show up at the meetup spot. They're designed for adults 50 and older but open to all ages and abilities, and friendly dogs on a leash are welcome. Every walk on the November schedule lists the same volunteer leader, Donna.
November 3 starts at a reservoir and a pea patch
The Bitter Lake Park Walk meets in the lower parking lot at St. Dunstan's Church. To get there, take the road beside the Interurban Trail crossing just north of 145th and Linden. The route is 3.7 miles and about two hours, with 216 feet of climbing and an optional shortcut.
This is the oldest-feeling route of the month. It passes the Bitter Lake reservoir and the hillside pea patch, follows Linden Avenue and the Interurban Trail, and loops through Bitter Lake Park. On the way back you get a quick view of the lake from the north side, and the full route goes by the Dunn Gardens entrance. Most of what you pass has been there a long time. Later walks in the month add more and more of the newer city.
November 10 starts in a mall parking lot and climbs to campus
The Shoreline College Campus Walk meets near Marshalls at Shoreline Place. Enter from 160th, take the first left into the center, and park near the far side of Marshalls. It's 3 miles in two hours, with 157 feet of climbing, some hills and a footpath.
From the lot, the route climbs to the Washington State Department of Transportation building. It then follows the north edge of Seattle Golf Club past Highland Terrace Elementary to Shoreline College for a campus tour, and comes back downhill through a neighborhood and along Gloria's Trail.
November 14 is the only Saturday, and it crosses Ballinger Commons
If you work weekdays, the Holy Rood Cemetery Walk is the one walk this month you can make. It's on Saturday, November 14, at 10 a.m. It meets at Echo Lake Elementary, 19345 Wallingford Ave. N., and the city suggests parking around the corner on 195th Street near the Native Plant Garden.
The route is 3.5 miles with 272 feet of climbing, including a long uphill stretch on a footpath. It drops to Echo Lake Park and winds through neighborhoods to Ballinger Way and the northwest corner of Ballinger Commons. From there a footpath heads south through the Commons, the route crosses to Holy Rood Cemetery, and you return to the school on a paved trail through the south end of the Commons.
You cross Ballinger Commons twice, going and coming back. That makes this the first walk of the month where much of the route runs through the Commons rather than past an old landmark.
November 17 runs through the civic core
The Shorewood High School and City Hall walk meets at the ballfield parking lot at 170th Street and Wallingford Avenue, just west of the Edwin Pratt Early Learning Center. It's 3.5 miles with 177 feet of climbing. The city's listing warns of one short, very steep hill early on.
This route passes more named stops than any other walk this month:
- Edwin Pratt Early Learning Center
- Meridian Park
- The Jewish Cemetery
- Darnell Park
- Richmond Highland Park and Community Center
- Shorewood High School
- The Ronald School
- Shoreline City Hall
- The Park at Town Center
A cemetery and the Ronald School share the route with City Hall and the Park at Town Center.
November 24 goes into "Apartment Land"
The season ends with the walk whose name sums up the month. Here is how the city describes the Apartment Land (Version A) Walk:
"From there we will make our way down to the 148th St. Light Rail Station, passing through a maze of apartment buildings and condos. We will return along 1st Avenue to our start, stopping to see the progress on the new foot bridge to the light rail station."
The walk meets at St. Barnabas Anglican Church, 2340 N. 155th St. It crosses the street into Twin Ponds Park, follows a trail around the park to Meridian Avenue, and takes a roundabout route uphill to Parkwood Elementary before heading down toward the station. It's 3.5 miles with 367 feet of climbing, the most of any walk this month.
The city has run this walk before. Its October 11, 2025 version described apartment buildings still under construction west of the 148th Street station. A year later, the city's description calls the same area "a maze of apartment buildings and condos." That change in wording is a quick measure of how much has been built on this stretch in a year.
What the bridge stop may show
The footbridge stop could be the most interesting part of the month. According to the city's 148th Street Non-Motorized Bridge project page, as of October 2026, Kraemer North America is assembling the bridge span on the west side of I-5 near the southbound 145th Street off-ramp. The city expects to set it on the piers overnight in November 2026.
Lifting the span requires closing I-5 in both directions for one night between the N. 145th Street and N. 175th Street exits. Lane reductions start at 9 p.m. on a Saturday, the freeway is fully closed from midnight to 5 a.m. Sunday, and it should be fully reopened by 6 a.m. The city's listed detours use Aurora Avenue N. and 15th Avenue NE.
If the lift happens before November 24, walkers on the final route may see the span already in place over the freeway. The city hasn't fixed a date beyond "November," so check the project page before you go. Either way, the bridge won't be walkable yet. The city expects the project to be finished and the bridge to open in spring 2027.
The west side of the work site has also changed in ways you can see. The west-side construction phase removed 63 trees in total, 47 of them classified as significant. The city designed the project to protect nine trees on the Unitarian Church property near the 1st Avenue NE connection. The west approach will reach 1st Avenue NE by a 16-foot shared path with a planted buffer. That's the stretch of 1st Avenue the walk follows on the way back.
The month at a glance
| Date | Walk | Meetup | Distance | Climb |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Tue, Nov 3 | Bitter Lake Park | St. Dunstan's Church, lower lot | 3.7 mi | 216 ft |
| Tue, Nov 10 | Shoreline College Campus | Near Marshalls, Shoreline Place | 3 mi | 157 ft |
| Sat, Nov 14 | Holy Rood Cemetery | Echo Lake Elementary | 3.5 mi | 272 ft |
| Tue, Nov 17 | Shorewood High School and City Hall | Ballfield lot, 170th & Wallingford | 3.5 mi | 177 ft |
| Tue, Nov 24 | Apartment Land (Version A) | St. Barnabas Anglican Church | 3.5 mi | 367 ft |
Every walk starts at 10 a.m. and is listed at about two hours. The event pages give parking directions but no transit directions. On Saturday, November 21, the free walks take a break while the Shorelake Arts Outdoor Arts Market runs from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. on NE 165th Street between 5th and 8th Avenues in Ridgecrest. It's co-hosted by Drumlin and Ridgecrest Books and includes indoor space at Drumlin and at ShoreLake Arts, 521 NE 165th St.
After November 24
The walks don't stop entirely after Thanksgiving week. Through the winter, the city switches to "pop up" walks, posted on the Shoreline Walks page and the Shoreline Parks and Recreation Facebook page up to three days ahead so they can be timed for good weather. There's also the Tuesday Walking Group, a free drop-in walk at 10 a.m. every Tuesday led by Donna. It covers 2 to 4 miles of streets and trails at a slower, conversational pace, goes rain or shine, and is canceled only when more extreme weather is forecast.
The city also keeps PDF maps of past routes for walking on your own. They include the SW Echo Lake and Hillwood Walk at 3.1 miles, the Parkwood and Twin Ponds Walk at 2.8 miles, and the Ridgecrest and Hamlin Park Walk at 3.4 miles.
If the November 24 walk gets you curious about what the new buildings and the bridge are doing to values on your block, Chris Haynes follows the 148th Street station area closely and can walk you through it. Get your free home valuation.
