Best View in Roosevelt: Rainbow Point Park

Posted on December 4, 2010 at 7:40 pm By 3 Comments

While looking through photos on Flickr the other day, I ran across a view of downtown I’d never seen before. It was taken from a park in Roosevelt called “Rainbow Point.”

I’ve never heard of it. I’ve lived in Roosevelt for 15 years and thought I knew every nook and cranny in this neighborhood.

The GIS data on the photo showed that it was on Banner Way in north Roosevelt, near the southbound entrance to I-5 at 75th.

At a mere .79 acre, Rainbow Point Park isn’t easy to find, even on a map. There’s little mention of the park on the web, other than an entry on the Seattle Parks Department website noting the park hours and general location. In an article in The Stranger, it was noted that the WSDOT and Seattle Police quietly removed a homeless camp from Rainbow Point this past July after complaints from neighbors.

I can see why someone would want to camp out here. The view is outstanding.

I took this today around 4:15 p.m. just as the sun was starting to set:

Sunset at Rainbow Point

The Seattle Parks Department’s Sherwood Forest Files gave me a little more info about Rainbow Point. The city purchased the initial .2 acres of land in 1970 from the estate of Ellen V. Johnson and another .4 from the State Department of Highways in 1974. The first .2 acres were developed in 1972 and the second .4 were developed under a capital improvement plan project in 1975 for $28,000.

There are two benches overlooking the freeway, Green Lake, and in the distance, the Olympic Mountains. Bring your telephoto lens and aim it south, right down the freeway, to get a unique shot of downtown.

A drawing of Rainbow Point from the Sherwood Forest Files (Seattle Parks Department records)

Address: NE 75th St. and Banner Way NE (map)

How to find it: Heading west on 75th from Safeway, take the first left after the church onto 9th Ave. NE. If you go straight, you’ll get on to I-5. Instead, take the first right onto Banner Way NE. The park is just on the left-hand side and there is ample street parking. You won’t see much from your car, though. Get out and walk up the path to find the two benches. Enjoy the view!

Hours: 4:00 a.m. to 11:00 p.m.

Looking north from Rainbow Point Park, Seattle

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About Patty

Patty is the editor of The Roosevelt Neighborhood Blog. You can reach her via email: patty@roosiehood.com.

  • http://twitter.com/lukobe Benjamin Lukoff

    Knew about the park, but never knew it was called that! A very nice viewpoint… probably even nicer before I-5 came through…

  • Ivana

    I’ve gone there a few times, but it can be sketchy in the dark. I suspect before I-5, there may have been houses in the way of the view, so in a way, the freeway canyon created the view you see. I rather like the view, even with I-5.
    It wasn’t a park until long after I-5, and I wonder what the future of it will be after the north link light rail extension to Northgate. I think the alignment daylights just below the park.

  • cz

    The Sherwood Forest Files what a gold mine of information about our city parks. The city does not do a good job mapping these out on their online map.