Madrona Park is a Seattle Parks and Recreation property at 853 Lake Washington Boulevard, about two and a half miles east of downtown on the western shore of Lake Washington. The park runs roughly 31 acres and is cut in two by the boulevard. West of the road the land climbs into Madrona Woods, a forested ravine with a daylighted creek and a network of short named trails. East of the road is the part most people come for: a long grass lawn along the water with picnic sites, two fishing piers, restrooms, drinking fountains and the guarded swim beach.

The swim area sits directly off the lawn near the foot of the hill. Seattle Parks rigs it with two fixed platforms rather than the floating docks used at some other city beaches, and it carries a one meter diving board. The city notes that board availability depends on water depth, which shifts through the season, so the board is not guaranteed on any given day. Lifeguards work the beach in summer only. For 2026 the city listed Madrona's guarded season as May 23 through August 23, with the beach closed for the late season window that several other beaches keep open into early September. Guard hours are noon to 7 p.m. on weekdays and 11 a.m. to 7 p.m. on weekends. Outside those dates and hours nobody is watching the water.

Nothing here costs money. Swimming is free, and Seattle Parks runs free swim lessons for ages 6 to 16 at every guarded beach plus a Lifeguard Training Team program for teens 15 to 18. There is a small lot off Lake Washington Boulevard and unmetered street parking along the water. No boat ramp. Park hours are 4 a.m. to 11:30 p.m.

Water quality is not the city's job. Public Health Seattle and King County samples the lake beaches weekly from mid May into September, testing for fecal bacteria and, at many beaches, for toxic algae, pulling three samples from different parts of a beach each visit. High counts or an algae bloom can close a beach on short notice, with signs posted on site and a banner added to the park's own page. King County runs an email and text alert list at kingcounty.gov/swimbeach. Heavy rain is the other thing to watch, because runoff carries bacteria into the lake.

The history explains why the park is here at all. Madrona was platted in 1889, and the Union Trunk Line ran an electric trolley down from 34th Avenue and Union Street through the woods to the lakeshore, building a resort at the end of the line with a hotel, boathouse, dance pavilion, concessions and bath houses. Steamers called at the dock. When John Charles Olmsted arrived in 1903 to lay out Seattle's park and boulevard system, Madrona was already a streetcar destination park, and he came out to see it with the park commissioners on his second day in the city. His plan folded it into the system, and Seattle bought the land in 1908. The old bathhouse became the Madrona Dance Studio in 1971 and the city still runs it. Metro's Route 2 ends at the park today, on the same errand the streetcar had.