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Print Friendly MapThe Des Moines Creek Trail offers a nice connection between the south side of Seattle and the waterfront community of Des Moines on Puget Sound. The paved trail begins just south of the Seattle-Tacoma International Airport and winds through the pleasantly wooded Des Moines Creek Park along a burbling creek down to the city's marina, descending slightly as it approaches the water.
The park offers basic amenities, such as benches, picnic tables, and drinking fountains, as well as a network of mountain biking trails to explore. On the trail's southern end, enjoy a stroll over the water on the long pier. You can also continue your journey south on a shared-road bike route on Marine View Drive about 2 miles to Saltwater State Park, where you'll find sandy beaches, tide pools, and a scuba diving reef.
The Des Moines Creek trail is also part of the developing Lake to Sound Trail, which carries users from Lake Washington to the Puget Sound.
Parking is available on the north end of the trail in Des Moines Creek Park (2151 S. 200th Street) and, on the south end of the trail, in Des Moines Beach Park (22030 Cliff Avenue South).
See TrailLink Map for detailed directions.
My daughter and I walked our dog about half of this trail, from S. 200th St. parking lot (only about 10 parking spots). On a sunny winter Saturday, it was not at all crowded, only saw about a dozen other friendly people. No litter or sketchy people. It is directly under the SeaTac flight path, so you'll never forget you aren't deep in the woods, but a beautiful wooded paved easy walk. We'll enjoy this walk again.
This trail feels like a lesser-known gem in the area. It's rarely crowded and winds through a lot of forest scenery by a nice creek.
If you skate, you'll love this trail for its gradual downhill (about 3-5%) nearly the entire two miles. It's not too steep - any speed you reach will be maintained, you won't accelerate or slow down much. This also means it's easy to push back up the hill.
The trail isn't very crowded, but be careful of a few sharp corners as people walk groups of dogs regularly - and try telling dogs to stay in their lane on the right side! ;-)
You can park at the bottom of the trail or at the top off of 200th st. There are many benches to sit and enjoy the scenery, and some alternate paths (not paved) if you like to run off-road or explore the woods a bit.
The only negative is the strong sewage smell around the treatment plant about halfway along, but it passes quickly and doesn't really detract from the overall rating of the trail for me. 5 stars!
Very pleasant trail along a creek with a gentle climb to the north trail head. A park by the water makes for a nice break.
Perfectly paved, wanders through beautiful trees alongside the Des Moines Creek. Situated within walking distance of light rail makes this a gem for us city dwellers as this trail 'takes you away from the city' without actually having to travel through traffic to get there.
I spotted this trail posting a couple months back, but only decided to walk it today. Very happy that I did! Note: There's construction going on on 200th (from Des Moines Memorial) at the moment. Just drive past the barrier and head down to the trailhead. The construction equipment is just past the park entrance.
Super happy with the quality of the trail, the surroundings, the trail length, and the people encountered. Very family and pup friendly. The Des Moines marina at the south end of the trail is lovely as well. This is on my keeper list :)
We tried this trail in a casual Sunday when we weren't in the mood for anything too difficult. It was perfect for us! Easy enough for strollers or casual joggers, the paved trail provides just enough of an incline on the way back up from the water to get good cardio in. Don't miss the opportunity to walk out of the pier while at the waterfront!
It's a very nice park and walk, although we did not do the entire walk. It starts at the marina where it is very pretty and then follows along a babbling brook.
Everyone had their dog on a leash, which makes me happy. It is such a bother when people unleash their dogs on public trails and parks as I never know how my dog will react.
We really enjoyed it.
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