Seattle Parks shortens opening hours at Golden Gardens for summer

There will be shortened opening hours at Golden Gardens this summer in an effort to curb crime in the evenings at the popular beach.

Seattle Parks and Recreation will start the shortened hours pilot program at both Golden Gardens and Alki Beach this summer to “address dangerous and/or illegal behavior that has been typical of summer evenings at these two parks,” SPR said in a statement.

The new hours for both parks will be 4 a.m. to 10 p.m. from May 27 to September 4. After September 5, the hours will be 4 a.m. to 11:30 p.m.

Seattle Parks staff and Seattle Police Department staff will begin closing down both beach locations starting at 9:30 p.m. each night.

Designated fire pits will be available for beach fires this summer starting May 28.

Seattle Parks also shortened the opening hours last summer. However, as we reported in April, many nearby neighbors found that the efforts were lacking and that ongoing bad behavior persisted.

You can submit public comments on the pilot program here.

Seattle Parks plans to review the pilot program at the Board of Parks and Recreation Commissioner meeting this fall. The department says it will consider public comments given at the board meeting and data collected throughout the pilot period.