Freeway Park Park

Website: https://www.seattle.gov/parks/allparks/freeway-park

Admission: Free

Freeway Park is an urban deck park in central Seattle that sits above Interstate 5 and was developed as a landscaped public space in the 1970s.

Conceived and built in the mid-1970s, the park was part of urban efforts to reconnect neighborhoods divided by the freeway and to provide new public open space in downtown Seattle. Its design reflects mid-20th century modernist landscape principles and was influential in later deck-park projects.

Freeway Park spans Interstate 5 in downtown Seattle, forming a raised pedestrian link between the city center and First Hill, a short walk from major downtown transit and commercial areas.

• Designer and year: Designed by landscape architect Lawrence Halprin and opened in 1976, it was an early example of a deck park built over a freeway.
• Size and role: Covers roughly 5 acres and functions as a pedestrian link between downtown Seattle and the First Hill neighborhood.

What to See#

• Plazas and terraces: A sequence of plazas and terraces built on a large deck over the freeway, arranged with concrete walls, stairs and planted pockets that frame paths and seating.
• Water features: A series of waterfalls and planted pockets that form the park’s signature water features and verdant corridors running along the elevated deck.

Freeway Park sits in downtown Seattle above I‑5 between the Convention Place/Olive Way area and the business district. It’s a short walk (about 5-10 minutes) from Westlake Station (Sound Transit Link light rail and the Seattle Center Monorail connections) and is served by many King County Metro buses that stop in downtown Seattle. By car the park is immediately west of I‑5; from central Seattle it’s only a few minutes’ drive (under 2-3 miles depending on your start point) using surface streets through the downtown grid.

• Visit Freeway Park in daylight, preferably early morning on a weekday, to enjoy the park's concrete terraces, waterfalls and sunken plazas with far fewer people and better lighting for photos.
• Take time to explore the multi-level walkways and interior plazas rather than just walking straight through - the park's landscape‑architecture details and water features are easy to miss from passing sidewalks.
• Be aware that some areas can feel enclosed and are darker after dusk; plan a daytime visit if you want to inspect the design safely and comfortably.