West Green Lake Beach is one of two lifeguarded swimming areas that Seattle Parks and Recreation operates inside Green Lake Park, at 7312 West Green Lake Drive N in north Seattle. The other one, East Green Lake Beach, sits across the water at 7201 East Green Lake Drive N beside the Green Lake Community Center and Evans Pool. The city staffs them on different calendars and King County samples them as separate beaches, so the two are not interchangeable. The west beach gets the longer season and the better swim setup.

The sand runs roughly 100 meters along the northwest shore, directly behind the 1927 bathhouse that now houses Seattle Public Theater. Offshore the city sets two fixed platforms with a marked 50 yard lap lane, plus a 1 meter and a 3 meter diving board. East Green Lake gets a single fixed platform and no lap lane. Board availability depends on water depth, which drops as the season runs on. Green Lake covers 259 acres with an average depth of 13 feet and a maximum near 30, and the basin was cut by the Vashon glacier about 50,000 years ago. The state gave the lake to the city in 1905, after which it was diked, dredged and filled until it lost close to 100 acres.

Swimming is free and so is parking, which is street parking along West Green Lake Drive N plus nearby lots. The park is open 4am to 11:30pm. In 2026 lifeguards worked the west beach from May 23 through September 7, weekdays noon to 7pm and weekends 11am to 7pm, with holiday hours of 11am to 7pm on July 4 and September 7. East Green Lake ran only June 27 to August 23 and stayed shut for the late season. The west beach is the north site for the free Lifeguard Training Team for teens 15 to 18, and free swim lessons for ages 6 to 16 run middays on weekdays. City code keeps swimmers inside the marked area or within 50 feet of shore, with a 75 foot watercraft buffer around the swim beach.

Water quality is the thing to check before you drive over. King County samples this beach weekly from mid May to mid September, three samples per visit, and tests for toxic algae from early June into late October. Public Health Seattle and King County reviews the numbers and recommends closures. Green Lake has thrown cyanobacteria blooms for well over a century, enough that a surveyor called it Lake Green back in 1855, and the beach closes outright when a bloom turns toxic. Waterfowl on the lake also seed the parasite behind swimmer's itch, known here as Green Lake itch. The city has dosed the lake with alum more than once to bind phosphorus and slow the blooms.

Restrooms, a play area, basketball courts, drinking fountains and grills are all close by, and the 2.8 mile paved inner loop and 3.2 mile outer path circle the lake.