Juanita Bay Park in Kirkland

Juanita Bay Park is rather unique in that the park holds an impressive amount of nature being so close to an urban environment. The waters surrounding Juanita Bay Park are a protected wildlife habitat area. You may not enter the wildlife habitat area by any type of watercraft, floatation device, or even swimming. Fortunately, they have built many boardwalks into the Forbes Creek Wetland to get visitors out into Juanita Bay. The boardwalks are popular with nature photographers who are kind of interesting to watch themselves. Along the walkways are educational displays describing the history, wildlife and vegetation. The rest of the park outside the wetland is open fields because from 1932 to 1975 Juanita Bay Park was the nine-hole Juanita Golf Course. Legendary American pro Joanne Gunderson Carner learned to golf on the Juanita links. Juanita Bay Park is the city’s largest park, totalling nearly 110 acres. It is home to 120 species of birds and many varieties of plant life. Acquisition of the largest parcels of the park occurred when Kirkland voters approved bond measures in 1977 and 1984. In 1989, the Kirkland Centennial Park Bond measure was passed and helped provide funding for the development of the Park. Additional funding for improvements for the park came from the DNR.