I-90 Trail

You should try running this on a beautiful Seattle Monday, jogging past the birds & the sounds of the liquid sunshine hitting the ground as you run by.

During beautiful, warm and sunny summer days, the I-​90 freeway trail is my top choice for a short cardio run. I begin my run at Mercer Island and head onto the I-​90 floating bridge where there’s full exposure to the sun, the breeze and glorious views of Seattle and million dollar homes on the waterfront.
Be mindful of a few things when taking this trail as a runner/​walker:
1) There tends to be more bicyclists than pedestrians and runners so follow the rules of the road. For example, travel on the right and be wary of bikers as they pass you on the left; don’t run down the middle! Before making a U turn, hug the right and ensure that there aren’t any traffic right behind you for safety.
2) Though there are restrooms at the parks, there aren’t any midway on the bridge so do your deed (s) before heading on the pavement. My worst nightmare is to be 2 miles from a port-​a-​potty and need to do a no. 2 in the middle of I-​90. Thank goodness that hasn’t happened!
3) I like going earlier in the mornings on weekends when isn’t no rush hour traffic, reason being the exhaust fumes can get pretty bad if it isn’t windy. So far on the runs I have completed, I haven’t had much of an issue unless a couple of illegal rust buckets dump their fumes on the roadway.
4) If you have acrophobia, the fear of heights, you may want to reconsider the bridge portion. Looking down the rails on the right side going towards Seattle from Mercer there will a distance between the bridge and the water that would ruin your journey.
5) It is your choice how long of a distance you want to run along this trail. The whole distance roundtrip from one end to end may be as long as 18 – 20 miles or if you are just doing a section of the bridge and back, it can be as short as 4 miles.
To find this trail, you can go to the trailhead on 12^th Ave S in Seattle or the Mercer Island parks (or the Park n Ride) off the Island Crest Way/​Mercer Way exits. I believe you can start from Bellevue as well but have not tried that one and it is located at Enatai Beach Park on SE Lake Road.

I used to live on north Beacon Hill, where one of the entrances to the bike path starts at Daejeon Park. In Daejeon, South Korea, you can visit our city’s sister park «Seattle Park.» Kinda cool, huh?
Back to the I-​90 trail; this is yet another great bike and foot path that provides easy access to users, fine paths, and great views. No sooner do you start on the Seattle side of I-​90 bridge, and head through a graffiti-​painted tunnel, then you’re on I-​90 itself, running alongside the traffic to your right and boats on your left.
But, not being a street bicycle rider, I use this path mostly for marathon-​distance training. It’s pretty flat for most of it and you get the option of exiting onto Mercer Island before circling back across the bridge.
It can sometimes be pretty breezy, and I highly recommend only running on I-​90 early in the morning (the car exhaust can be a little much otherwise) and if you have ANY kind of spider phobia, I don’t recommend this path for you. In between the narrow metal railings of the entire length of the bridge, are hordes of spiders on their spiderwebs. On windy days, the webs balloon in/​out depending on which way the wind is coming in. I think it’s beautiful – gossamer threads billowing; the spiders looking like they are on the best roller coaster ride ever. Others might see it as a corridor full of nightmare fodder lol
The bike path is great for walking/​running/​riding by yourself, with friends/​family; and if you are bicycling, pack a backpack picnic :)

As amazing as pavement gets!

Maybe not today, but on a sunny day.
The I-​90 Trail is the only one that I know in the Seattle area in which you can bike, run or walk alongside a major highway. This trail starts off in Bellevue and stretches across one part of Lake Washington, then to Mercer Island followed by another part of Lake Washington with the conclusion at the Portal to the Pacific aka Mount Baker Tunnel in Seattle. In total, this trail runs 8.5 miles if you go the whole distance.
I haven’t done the whole trail, but I have done the part from Mercer Island across to Seattle. Started off from the Mercer Island Park & Ride and walked through a park before entering the stretch of I-​90 across Lake Washington. The walk was pleasant enough. Though it would be better on a sunny and warm day. For those not fond of hiking and walking uphill or downhill, this is a good trail. Just walking on pavement. I would say this stretch takes about 30 – 40 minutes to get across by walking. Faster by biking or running.
This trail is a nice spot to get great pictures of Seattle and Lake Washington which you would miss driving through I-​90. I would not suggest this trail for people who are afraid of heights or the water though. The pathway is somewhat narrow. If you are running or walking, for your safety, make sure to stay on the right side so bikers can pass to the left of you.
If you haven’t tried this trail, it would be good to do the Mercer Island to Seattle stretch at least once. Nice to get a different perspective of I-​90 than the one you get while driving across it.