18 miles through Bellevue, Kirkland and Redmond
The Eastside Escapade
September 6th, 2025
What:
The Eastside Escapade is a roughly 18 mile group walk that will have participants traverse through Bellevue, Kirkland and Redmond on September 6th, 2025. The Escapade will begin from Bellevue Downtown park at around 9am and then proceed to Kirkland, over to Redmond and then finish up at Postdoc Brewing near Marymoor park. Although as much as we would love to have everyone join for the whole 18 miles, that is not possible for everyone, and we encourage folks to join for as little or as much as they would like. In order to make that possible, we will be making stops by both the Kirkland and Totem Lake Transit centers, at about 5 and 9 miles respectively for folks to either join or depart. Additionally, we will be finishing by one of the brand new light rail stations in Redmond that will allow folks to return to Bellevue in case they parked their car there, or folks can make their way to the 542/545 buses that will bring folks directly back to Seattle.
Similar to the Seattle Super Saunter that took place on May 17th and the West Seattle Saunter on July 12th, the goals of the Eastside Escapade are:
1. To encourage folks to walk
2. Build community
3. Appreciate the places we live in this case the Eastside (Bellevue, Kirkland and Redmond).
Walking is the most deliberate way to explore a place and what these long distance walks allow for is the ability for folks to see their own communities in a different light. These adventures are also a great way to meet people and share this experience with others. Lastly and most importantly, it will be fun! Maybe not everyone's ideal version of fun is walking almost 20 miles, but think of it: You are walking a beautiful September Saturday with 100+ other folks strolling along the waterfront, through cute urban shopping streets, along some of the best trails in the region, and then celebrating the accomplishment with a cold bevy. I’m almost certain that you will see something new, meet someone new, and be impressed at how much you are able to walk. All are welcome and the event is totally free!!!
The Route:
The route will begin at Bellevue Downtown Park at around 9am, We will then work north on Bellevue Ave which turns into Lake Washington Blvd.
Having taken Lake Washington Blvd to Kirkland, we will take a 15 min break at Peter Kirk Park (Probably around 11am) in order for folks to use the bathroom or get a snack. This will be an opportunity to join or leave using transit. Afterwards we will trek up Kirkland Ave to Kirkland Rotary Central Station and take another break for folks to catch back up.
Afterwards we will continue northward on the Eastrail, the underpass is closed underneath NE 85th Street and we will need to take a detour to cross at the intersection at Kirkland Way/114th Ave NE. Next we will take a left at NE 87th St and that will allow us to hop back on the trail.
We will continue on the Eastrail until the bottom of this loop which puts us on Totem Lake Blvd NE, we will walk on that until 120th ave NE where folks can either take a right towards Totem Lake Park where we will take a 15 min break (around 12:30pm) or they can take a left and get some food at one of the nearby grocery stores (Trader Joes/Whole Foods). This will be an opportunity to join or leave using transit. This will be the last opportunity to buy some food before getting to Redmond in another (7-8 miles).
After the break, there is a trail that will lead back to the Eastrail. We will need to make a crossing at Slater and NE 124th St before hopping back in the Eastrail. The Eastrail then continues along some farmland up to NE 145th St. We will cross over NE 145 St until we are over the Sammamish river before hopping on the Sammamish River Trail (around1:30-1:45pm).
Taking the Sammamish River Trail, our next break will be at 60 acres park for about 15 mins at around Mile 14 (around 2-2:30pm). After the break we will continue onto Redmond along the trail. Once in Redmond we will pass through some parks just south of NE 90 St. until we arrive at 160th Ave NE where we will take a right. This turns into Cleveland St which we will follow until we reach the Downtown Redmond Lightrail station (around 3-3:30pm) near the intersection of 166th Ave NE and Cleveland Street.
This puts us on the Redmond Central Connector trail which we will take all the way to NE 70th St. before finally crossing over onto 176th Ave NEwhich will take us all the way to our Final Destination at Postdoc Brewing (should get there around 4pm)
Helping to Organize:
Special S/O to Eastside Urbanism for helping to get the word out and partner on putting this together! If anyone else would like to partner, feel free to reach out at holden@seattlesupersaunter.com
Things to bring:
Backpack
Water
Snacks
Sunscreen
Hat
Battery pack (probably will not need)
ORCA card/Transit GO App (if you plan to use public transit)
Rain Jacket (if the weather is looking to be wet)
Transit/Parking options for the start
Busses from Seattle to Bellevue: 271 (U-District), 550 (Downtown), 556 (U-District), and the 560 (West Seattle)
Transit Options at the end: 2-Line from Marymoor Village to Bellevue Downtown, 542 (Redmond to U-District), 545 (Redmond to Downtown)
Parking: the Northwest Ukrainian Festival will be taking place on September 6th from Bellevue Downtown Park and they created a parking map that I will link here.