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Volunteer Park Review
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Volunteer Park
- Address: Park entrance:, 14th Ave. E at Prospect St., Capitol Hill, Seattle, WA | Map It
- www.ci.seattle.wa.us/seattle/parks/parkspaces/volpark.htm
- Category: Parks
- Location: Capitol Hill
Fodor's Review:
High above the mansions of North Capitol Hill sits 45-acre Volunteer Park, a grassy expanse perfect for picnicking, sunbathing, reading, and strolling. You can tell this is one of the city's older parks by the size of the trees and the rhododendrons, many of which were planted more than a hundred years ago. The Olmsted Brothers, the premier landscape architects of the day, helped with the final design in 1904, and the park has changed surprisingly little since then. The manicured look of the park is a sharp contrast to the wilds of Discovery Park or the Washington Park Arboretum, but the design suits the needs of the densely populated neighborhood well -- after all, Capitol Hill residents need someplace to set up Ultimate Frisbee games. A small wading pool by the water tower is extremely popular with families on hot summer days.
Beside the lake in the center of the park is the Seattle Asian Art Museum (206/654-3100. www.seattleartmuseum.org. $5, free 1st Thurs. and Sat. of month. Tues.-Sun. 10-5, Thurs. until 9; call for tour schedule). This 1933 art moderne edifice fits surprisingly well with the stark plaza stretching from the front door to the edge of a bluff, and with the lush plants of Volunteer Park. The museum's collections include thousands of paintings, sculptures, pottery, and textiles from China, Japan, India, Korea, and several Southeast Asian countries. It's a small place, and doesn't take long to move through, but it usually has one or two surprises to keep you around a bit longer, such as the enigmatic short films shown in its theater. Children's crafts tables provide activities related to current exhibits, and free gallery tours are available by appointment. Across from the museum is the Volunteer Park Conservatory (206/684-4743). This Victorian-style greenhouse has a magnificent (if cramped) collection of tropical plants. The Anna Clise Orchid Collection, begun in 1919, is at its most spectacular in late fall and early winter, when most of the flowers are in full bloom. The conservatory also has some splendid palm trees, a well-stocked koi pond, and, almost incongruously, a collection of cacti and other succulents. Climbing the 108 steps of the old water tower yields some decent views of the city over the park's tree line as well as some old photos and maps of the park. A focal point of the park, at the western edge of the 445-foot-high hill and in front of the Asian Art Museum, is Isamu Noguchi's sculpture Black Sun, carved from a 30-ton block of black granite. Many seem to enjoy taking photos of the Space Needle framed in the 9-foot, 9-inch hole of the "sun."
- Cost: Free
- Open: Park daily sunrise-sunset; conservatory May-mid-Sept., daily 10-7, otherwise 10-4
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