Enjoy the Colors of Summer in Tacoma
Summer is the season of color. Head out to Tacoma for a day or a weekend to experience the warm palettes of gardens, glass, and water with this trip through botanical gardens, a glass museum, and along the waterfront.
Chihuly Bridge of Glass, Venetian Wall. Photo credit: Travel Tacoma
Lakewold Gardens
Start your day with a stroll through the gardens of a historic estate at Lakewold Gardens. Built in 1908, the estate and gardens were donated to the non-profit Friends of Lakewold in the 1980s by Eulalie Wagner, who believed “As we become more and more city creatures, living in manmade surroundings, perhaps gardens will become even more precious to us, letting us remember that we began in the garden.” Garden “rooms” include a fern garden, shade garden, woodland garden, rock garden, cutting garden, and knot garden.
Photo credit: Lakewold Gardens
Tacoma Bridge of Glass & Glass Museum
Next stop is downtown Tacoma where you can walk across the Chihuly Bridge of Glass, an open-air art museum that connects the downtown to the museums, restaurants, and pathways that line the Thea Foss Waterway. My favorite part of the bridge is the Seaform Pavilion, whose ceiling is filled with 2,364 pieces of glass. The bridge also features two blue Crystal Towers and a Venetian wall, with 109 pieces by world famous glass artist Dale Chihuly. The glass art is enhanced by the scenery: enjoy the view of Mt Rainier, Downtown Tacoma, and the Puget Sound. On the far side of the bridge, stop to enjoy the day at the Fluent Steps glass sculpture that graces a 210-foot-long reflecting pool, or step into the Tacoma Glass Museum to learn more about the glass maker’s art. The museum also offers workshops where you can learn about glass blowing or fused glass.
Point Defiance Park Gardens
From the glass museum, take a short stroll along the Thea Foss Esplenade to enjoy the colors of the water, before heading to the gardens at Point Defiance Park for more colors of summer. One of the highlights of the gardens is the Rose Garden’s rose arbor, which was restored this year. Check out The Dahlia Trail Garden, one of the largest official trail gardens in the US. It has flowers grown from tubers that have been sent in from across America, Canada, England, New Zealand and Australia. Every year, the flowers are judged and the best are added to an annual classification book. Theme gardens include the Japanese Garden and a native plan garden. Other gardens highlight particular types of plants including the Fuchsia Garden, Rhododendron Garden, Rose Garden, Iris Garden, and Herb Garden.
Point Defiance Park Gardens. Photo credit: Metro Parks Tacoma
Dune Peninsula Park
End your summer color tour of Tacoma at the Dune Peninsula Park, where you can enjoy views of the bay, sky, and sun. This 11-acre park on the breakwater peninsula surrounding the Tacoma Yacht Club boat basin was built on the ruins of a historic lead-and-copper smelter. Once toxic land was reclaimed to create a space where the community can picnic, watch harbor seals on the rocks, and connect with nature. The park is named after the Dune books written by Tacoma native Frank Herbert, as both the park and books share the theme of reclaiming a wasteland. It includes Dune quotes scattered along the paths and sculptures inspired by the books.
Dune Peninsula Park. Photo credit: Metro Parks Tacoma
Want to spend the weekend exploring all that Tacoma offers? You can find more ideas about ways to enjoy the city on the Travel Tacoma website, and find hotels on the Northwest Portal maps. We have partnered with Travel Tacoma to add all of their hotels to the map, so if you want a hotel that allows dogs, has a pool, or offers complimentary breakfast, use the map filters to highlight places that meet all your needs.
