Myrtle Reservoir Park — Attraction in Seattle

The highest point in the entire city of Seattle! Unfortunately there’s no viewing desk to take in the urban skyline and Cascade and Olympic Mountains. However, there is a decent open-space park for kids and dogs. A good sized “sundial looking” sculpture shows the direction of other Seattle hills and their elevations. The elevation of the hilled park is at 520 feet above sea level and this is apparently the same height as the ground to the Space Needle’s observation deck AND the top of the Volunteer Park Water Tower. Coincidence? Perhaps.

Sadly nothing spectacular like a fortress or old growth trees exists here, instead two towering water towers. The land was originally meant for WWII housing for defense workers that never happened. Hey, we’ll take an open-space...

The centerpiece of this park, if you momentarily ignore the two behemoth water towers overhead, is a sculpture celebrating the tallest of Seattle's seven hills (at 520'). The sculpture design is a bit technical and clumsy, but also clever and sporting a great view.

A tiny grove of massive trees, picnic tables, two play structures, an open field, and some walking paths make this park enjoyable in a variety of ways. Unfortunately, the water reservoirs, while visually appealing in their own way from a few blocks away, end up spoiling the park to a certain extent. Lots of open space is lost to the towers, with barbed wire fencing used throughout to protect the related...

I live near the bottom of Gatewood Hill and often do a neighborhood walk up to this park at the top of the hill. Nice views to the west on the walk up, nice views towards Seattle from the park itself. (Will have to grab a photo in that...