The free shuttle down to the Discovery Park beach makes its last 2026 runs on Halloween weekend. After Sunday, November 1, the only way to reach West Point on foot is down a trail and back up it. The Elliott Bay shore on Magnolia's south side changed more this year than at any time in recent memory, and it is now the easiest place to get to the water. It has a café, restrooms and level paths, and Smith Cove's new dog area is due to open next.
West Point stays open all winter, and from November on, getting there takes planning. On the Elliott Bay side, you can walk down for an hour with little notice. Knowing that makes rainy-season plans easier.
The last weeks of the easy way down
The Seattle Parks Discovery Park page lists the free shuttle between the parking lots and the beach running Thursday through Sunday, 11 a.m. to 5 p.m., through November 1, 2026. The final four-day stretch runs Thursday, October 29, through Sunday, November 1.
Other changes are already in place. The Discovery Park Visitor Center is closed until summer 2027, and the City says it cannot issue beach parking permits while the building is closed. Driving to the beach level without a permit or an ADA placard can get you a ticket or a tow. The rest of the park is open as usual. That means West Point Lighthouse and South Beach stay open all winter, and from November on you reach them on foot.
The walk is the access now
The Friends of Discovery Park trail map gives distances and times for the routes down. For a short winter day, they work out like this:
- South Beach Trail. It starts at Loop Trail marker 12 and runs 0.7 mile with 280 feet of descent. The map estimates 15 to 25 minutes and calls it the most popular route to the lighthouse and South Beach. The same map warns about winter mud and stairways, and both matter more on the climb back up.
- North Beach Trail. It starts near Loop Trail marker 17 and runs 1.2 miles to the lighthouse with 190 feet of vertical. The map estimates 25 to 35 minutes. It is longer than the South Beach Trail and less steep.
- The full circuit. The Loop Trail alone is 2.8 miles with 220 feet of vertical and takes about an hour to an hour and a half. Adding both beach trails makes a 4.5-mile route with 485 feet of gain.
The South Beach Trail you walk this winter is the current version. Seattle Parks' South Beach Trail project page said in June that the redesign had reached 90% and that construction would begin in spring 2027. No 2026 closure is listed for it. Expect the stairs and mud to stay as they are through the wet months.
West Point is still worth the walk. Plan it as an outing: check sunset, wear real shoes and leave time for the climb back up. For a quick 45 minutes by the water on a gray Tuesday, the other side of Magnolia now works better.
The shore that got easier this year
Myrtle Edwards Park and Centennial Park run more than a mile along Elliott Bay below Magnolia's southeast slope, with 16 acres between them. Both reopened on June 4, 2026, after the Elliott Bay Connections restoration. KUOW covered the reopening the next day, including the new access to the shoreline.
The restoration addressed the things that kept a winter visit short. According to Elliott Bay Connections, the existing beaches were expanded, the bike trail got lighting, paths were regraded and repaired, and accessible routes now reach the beaches and a new children's exploration area. The project planted 74,000 plants, and the parks now have 1,200 trees in total. Paths that light up early in the evening make a difference in November, when it gets dark before most people finish work.
The new amenities building is called haʔłali, Lushootseed for "the good place," and it has food, drinks and restrooms. The Port of Seattle's feature on haʔłali names Café Hagen as the operator. The Port describes it as a Scandinavian-inspired all-day café and bar serving pastries and croissant sandwiches in the morning and open-faced sandwiches at lunch and happy hour.
Café Hagen's waterfront page gives the address as 951 Alaskan Way W and says to drive toward the grain terminal. Its posted winter hours are Monday through Friday, 8 a.m. to 5 p.m., and weekends, 8 a.m. to 7 p.m., with no reservation needed. Other sources list different hours. In September, Seattle Bike Blog reported daily hours of 8 a.m. to 7 p.m. The Port's Centennial Park page lists 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. daily. Treat the café's own winter schedule as the starting point, and check before a weekday afternoon visit.
The parks also connect farther south now. A new three-quarter-mile greenway opened April 21 along the east side of Alaskan Way, running from Waterfront Park at Pier 62 to the Olympic Sculpture Park at Pier 70. It has lighting, benches and wayfinding signs. Elliott Bay Connections describes the whole stretch as running to The Beach at Expedia Group, just before Pier 91. The project was paid for with private philanthropy, and it also covers maintenance of the parks and greenway for five full years after opening. That should keep the new plantings looked after through the next several winters.
Smith Cove is the piece still behind fences
The Elliott Bay side has one piece still to come. Smith Cove Park sits on 23rd Ave W between the Magnolia Bridge and the Elliott Bay Marina. It has been under construction since late September 2025 on a $3.3 million Phase I funded by the Seattle Park District.
At the Board of Parks and Recreation Commissioners' September 10 meeting, Parks said the park will partially reopen by the end of the year. The first phase includes a new off-leash area, an accessible trail loop around the park, native plantings, a log zone and bioretention areas. The renovated natural-turf playfields follow when the park fully reopens in summer 2027. The City's project page says the grass field will stay fenced until early summer 2027 while the turf grows in.
No opening date has been posted. Sidewalk Dog reported on October 16 that the off-leash area is still expected with the year-end partial reopening and that the City had not set an exact date. The same article notes that two other Seattle off-leash projects first scheduled for fall 2026 now show 2027 and 2028 on City pages. Smith Cove's schedule looks solid on paper, but the opening could still slip. If you have a dog, plan around the off-leash area being open in December, and check the City's project page before you count on it.
When it opens, the winter shoreline will have a dog area and an accessible loop. They will sit at the Magnolia end of the Elliott Bay shore, a short walk from the marina.
Where to warm up on the south side
Once you're down at the marina, two restaurants at the Elliott Bay Marina make a cold walk easier to finish:
- Maggie Bluffs at 2601 West Marina Place lists daily hours of 11:30 a.m. to 7 p.m. and serves American comfort food, including burgers and sandwiches, according to its website.
- Palisade lists Monday through Friday hours of noon to 9 p.m., Saturday hours of 3 to 9 p.m. and Sunday hours of 10:30 a.m. to 9 p.m., with Sunday brunch and a daily 3 to 6 p.m. happy hour on its location page.
Neither page is dated, so call ahead around the holidays.
Up the hill, the Village has its own fall calendar. The Magnolia Chamber events calendar lists Village Trick or Treat on Saturday, October 31, from 4 to 6 p.m. That puts it on the same weekend as the shuttle's last runs. The calendar also lists a Magnolia United Church of Christ salmon dinner on Saturday, November 7, and Meet Up Magnolia networking on Thursday, November 12. For indoor plans, the Magnolia Community Center at 2550 34th Ave W has fall drop-in activities, and registration for its winter 2026/27 programs opens December 8.
That gives Magnolia a winter plan for each kind of day. Save West Point for clear days with time for the climb. Go to Centennial Park and Café Hagen when you have an hour and the forecast is uncertain. Check Smith Cove's project page in December.
If your household's winter routine runs from the Village down to the water, the team at Cedar to Sound Homes knows how much that daily access matters when people talk about what their home is worth to them. If you'd like to know what your Magnolia home would sell for today, ask for a free home valuation and we'll put the numbers together for you.
