Officials roll out Capitol Hill Healthy Hike (and ‘dog agility equipment’) to connect more people (and pooches) to neighborhood’s parks

(Image: City of Seattle)

By Brenna Gauchat

Those new “HCHH” discs around Capitol Hill are hoping to inspire you — and your dog — to get outside, get moving, and enjoy Capitol Hill’s parks.

With four colorful stripes and a QR code, Seattle Parks and Recreation has placed the sidewalk markers to encourage more use of the area’s public parks with the Capitol Hill Healthy Hike.

SPR’s Andy Sheffer, tells CHS the low-cost initiative comes as a response to concerns about public safety in parks like Tashkent, Broadway Hill or Seven Hills.

These markers take residents through an urban “hike” that connects nearly a dozen public spaces around Capitol Hill. The two loops are nearly 1.5-miles each and can be combined to create a 5k option. They all start at Cal Anderson Park.

The Capitol Hill Healthy Hike website has maps, and details options, noting the routes have many accessible ramps at intersections but a few spots that may be missing adequate accessibility for all users.

By creating connections for residents and visitors to travel between parks, Sheffer said SPR hopes to promote “human circulation” and bring “fresh air” into Capitol Hill’s public spaces.

CHS reported here in February as fences came down after a 6-month closure of Seven Hills Park over concerns from nearby residents and officials including District 3 City Councilmember Joy Hollingsworth about public safety and camping.

Improved maintenance and increased effort around community activation have been part of the reopening including the plan for “human & hound fitness installations” in Seven Hills and other Capitol Hill parks to create a circuit of low-cost, low-maintenance workout stations.

The new 3.1-mile Healthy Capitol Hill Hike campaign with signage and printed maps is part of the plan.

Seattle Parks has also encouraged more small events in the parks to draw visitors. The next edition of the “Sounds of the Spring Breeze” concert series in Seven Hills is scheduled to run from 3 to 6 PM Saturday, April 25th.

Parks has also promised small upgrades and better maintenance of the parks. Last year, a public safety “facelift” for Boylston Ave’s Tashkent Park was highlighted by new strings of catenary lights and plans for improved maintenance.

SPR currently manages nearly 500 parks within its 6,441-acre park system but the path to creating new park space is expensive — and slow. Sheffer said programs like the hike are ways to enhance the parks the city already has.

• Phase II Complete!

  The markers are in! We will be checking them over the next couple of weeks to confirm their placement and ensure they bonded properly.

  If you notice missing or troublesome markers, please let us know by using the contact block below!

• Timeline item 2 – incomplete

  Phase III

  By fall 2026, SPR will add fitness equipment to the following parks to work out the same or similar muscle groups to the body weight exercises currently associated with these parks:

  • Broadway Hill Park
  • Seven Hills Park
  • Tashkent Park
  • Williams Place Park

  Dog agility equipment will be installed at the following parks:

  • Broadway Hill Park
  • Seven Hills Park
  • Thomas Street Mini Park
  • Williams Place Park

As seen in this illustration of the CHS Newshound, the dog and human fitness installations will use “natural features” like stumps and logs

In addition to connecting these parks, SPR’s final phase of the initiative is to add outdoor features to encourage residents to “stay healthy” with their families, friends and pets. For example, the Broadway Hills and Seven Hills parks will see stationary exercise equipment like pull up bars and dog agility equipment installed by June.

“Dog agility equipment” is coming soon to Broadway Hill, Seven Hills, the Thomas Street Mini Park, and Williams Place Park along 15th Ave.

The treks are intended to bring awareness to the neighborhood’s charm, drawing attention to Capitol Hill’s architecture, landscaping and character. Sheffer compared the initiative to Boston’s Freedom Trail, a 2.5-mile route marked by a red line on the sidewalk that snakes through the city and leads tourists to 16 historical landmarks.

The sidewalk discs also represent a collaboration between two Seattle departments: SPR and the Seattle Department of Transportation. Sheffer said the “receptiveness” SDOT’s Public Space Management team had expressed to the permit requests for these new markers was an important factor in the realization of the initiative.

Sheffer said SPR hopes to expand the strategy throughout the city, targeting other neighborhoods that might struggle with disengagement in its community spaces, but is waiting to see how Capitol Hill residents and visitors explore these routes first.

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