2021 Hike 20: Gene Coulon Park

It was Father’s Day when this hike was done, so it was a bit of a bittersweet occasion…but I figured getting outside was better than moping around the house, so we did a couple miles up the Gene Coulon trail that borders the southeast portion of Lake Washington in Renton. This trail actually picks up a couple blocks after the Cedar River trail ends at Boeing, and continues up the lake shore.

I again feel super lucky to live in such a beautiful area, as this is a park that is only a couple miles from where we live. This park was named for Gene Coulon, the director of the Renton Parks Department from 1949 until 1977. We are very lucky to have this, as it’s one of the few areas of Lake Washington that has not been turned into private or commercial waterfront real estate.

Even in the city, wildlife still thrives…several turtles routinely make their way to the shore, and are well known to locals.

In this park, there is a piece of art in the form of statues in motion. It is tradition for people to dress these statues up for holidays or other occasions. Here, you can see that someone used a Seahawks shirt, put a stroller there for Father’s Day. I found it a bit humorous though, that nobody is actually holding the stroller.

Brook doing “Abbey Road”…though she doesn’t actually know what that is lol