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Community Corner

Stay Busy From Morning to Night at Pine Lake Park

The Sammamish park is popular for swimming, play area and summer concerts.

You know you are really lucky to live in Sammamish when you show up to on a sunny day. Pine Lake Park sits across from on the main thoroughfare of 228th Avenue Southeast. It might look small from the street, but as you turn in and drive into the park, the expansive acreage will surprise you. Soccer and baseball, basketball, a playground, trails and lake will offer any family hours of outside entertainment.

Pine Lake Park is breathtaking. I love to drive into the lot (no cars are allowed in the rest of the park) and see all the kids playing soccer or baseball on the expansive grassy area. My kids have fun running to the climbing walls and swings next to the baseball diamond. We are always fascinated by the competitive teen pick-up basketball games going on nearby. Even with a lot of people visiting on a sunny day, there is so much to do that it doesn’t feel crowded. My children then love to walk along the logs lining the main road as we head to the lake. No doubt we usually stop at the second playground area which was updated several years ago. Slides, a bridge and a large and small play area keep us there for hours. If it is a big party that we want, there are two new covered table areas that can be reserved through the city.

Of course, the special treat in the park is the lake. It is hard to beat the . Several years ago, the city of Sammamish updated the beach area by taking out the sand, adding landscape and big logs, and replacing the sand with gravel rocks. This has helped to reduce the erosion that the sand was causing.

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The only downside is that families with young children don’t have a great place to sit and wade. If you do go with young children, it is best to have them wear water shoes so that they can walk on the gravel. Plan to at least get your feet wet since the sitting area is limited to logs and a small gravel beach. If your kids are older, the newly renovated dock is a great choice as they will love to jump off into the deeper water. It is also a fun place to catch some rays and even fish. Here there is room to spread your towel or sit in a beach chair. Lifeguards are present daily from noon to 7 p.m. from June to early September and will require swimmers under the age of 13 to take a swim test if they want to play in the deep end.

When it is too cold to swim, the other great activity to do at Pine Lake Park is bike. We enjoy biking to the park from our house, but if we are feeling less adventurous, we will bring the bikes in our car and just ride around inside the park. Along the perimeter are flat, easy paths that wind around the park. In addition, with no traffic (except for the occasional car dropping off a raft at the lake), it is safe for children to practice their pedaling.

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After swimming, playing and biking, my absolute favorite thing to do during the summer is to come back for the .    Starting this past week, every Thursday night from 6:30 to 8 p.m. the grassy area by the parking lot turns into an area for a music concert. On those sunny and even not so sunny nights (rain cancels), we grab our picnic dinner and some blankets and head on over. Get there early to find parking in the Discovery Elementary parking lot. The lot at the park fills up several hours beforehand. The city now offers a shuttle service from the Park and Ride. The shuttle service begins at 5 p.m. and goes ‘as needed’ once there are enough people ready to ride. At 8 p.m., it begins service back from the concert to the park and ride. 

Lynne Handlos, city recreation coordinator, has organized the concerts for the past 11 years, since their inception. She encourages families to not miss the music this year. "We have picked the favorite bands from the last 11 years and asked them to come back. Most of them were available and are still local," she said.

She estimates that about 1,200 people are at the concerts on a nice evening. Even with the large crowd, there is plenty of space for everyone and some good food to go around. If you are short on time to bring your dinner, buy it at the concert. BBQ and ice cream are sold by the local Rotary and Kiwanis community organizations.   

If you enjoy Shakespeare, Pine Lake Park will be hosting Macbeth on July 16 and Comedy of Errors on July 23 from 7 to 8:45 p.m. in the same grassy area.

On the next nice day (or even not so nice day), put away the lawnmower, turn off the TV and take your family to Pine Lake Park.   It’s hard to beat all the fun you can have.

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