View to the Olympics and Budd Inlet from the Heritage Trail, Olympia (bobcat)

On the Arc of Statehood, Heritage Park, Olympia (bobcat)

Azalea bloom, Heritage Trail, Olympia (bobcat)

Temple of Justice, Capitol Campus, Olympia (bobcat)

The loop around Capitol lake in Olympia, with the diversion to the state capitol buildings (bobcat) Courtesy: Google Maps

• Start point: Heritage Park Trailhead
• End point: Washington State Legislative Building
• Hike Type: Loop
• Distance: 2.5 miles
• Elevation gain: 100 feet
• High point: 110 feet
• Difficulty: Easy
• Seasons: All year
• Family Friendly: Yes
• Backpackable: No
• Crowded: Yes

Hike Description

Capitol Lake, really three connected bodies of water, was created in 1951 with the damming of the Deschutes River on 5th Avenue where the river entered the West Bay of Budd Inlet. The area was once marsh and tidal mudflats, an ecosystem that has now been lost as there is no entry of salt water. The lake was originally designed to be a tidal reflecting pool that complemented the state capitol buildings up on the hill. However, more extensive inundation assured the drowning of a local eyesore, a Depression era shantytown of gambling dens, whiskey joints, and whorehouses known as “Little Hollywood.” A nearby community of Chinese immigrants also had to move. Capitol Lake’s environs are attractively laid out, but visitors are forbidden from entering the lake waters due to an infestation of tiny New Zealand mudsnails (one female = 40 million snails in a year). Plans are afoot to return the area to a natural estuary and therefore reduce the chance of more non-native invasions. Facilities in the area were also damaged in the 2001 Nisqually Earthquake, but have since been repaired. This walk not only takes you around the lake itself but up the switchbacking Heritage Trail to the imposing buildings at Washington’s Capitol Campus.

From the vantage point of the parking area, you can see across the circular pond at the northern end of Capitol Lake to the low hill that holds Washington’s capitol buildings. Dominating the scene is the massive masonry dome of the Washington State Legislative Building, the 5th tallest such dome in the world. Begin your walk going clockwise by first heading to the tamped gravel path that circles around the lake. There are benches for sitting and interpretive signs describing the controversial altered ecology of the lake. Thickets of white alder, red osier dogwood, and willow cluster on the shore. This eastern margin is the Arc of Statehood, and you can find plaques honoring each of Washington’s 39 counties.

At the south end of the lake, take the path leading across the railroad (look left and right). This connects to the Heritage Trail, which switchbacks nine times up a brushy slope which has some infusion of Armenian blackberry. As you get higher, you get views north to Budd Inlet and the snow-capped peaks of the Olympics.

Make a right to walk past the Law Enforcement Memorial. To your left, the multi-columned façade of the 1920 Temple of Justice looms. This building is home to the Washington Supreme Court and, like the other original structures here, it was designed by New York architects Harry White and Walter Wilder. Walk around behind the Temple of Justice to pass below the wide staircase leading to the entrance of the Legislative Building, completed in 1928. To the east of the Legislative Building is a park with several memorials, including the Winged Victory Monument (World War I), the Medal of Honor Memorial, and the Tivoli Fountain. The columned Insurance Building, which houses some state offices, is to your right. There’s also a formal dahlia garden. Return to the Heritage Trail when you’ve finished wandering around.

At the lakeshore again, continue to a curving pier that shelters a small bay with its resident flotilla of begging mallards. This is the Western Washington Inlet, representing the lush green and watery expanses of that part of the state. A footbridge parallels a railroad bridge that separates a section of Capitol Lake extending south. You can see the tall chimney stack of the powerhouse which services the capitol buildings via a set of tunnels in the hillside. You’ll reach Marathon Park, named after the U.S. trials for the first women’s Olympic marathon, which were held here in 1984.

When you come to Deschutes Parkway, take the paved path leading north. Plantings of young red oaks shade the trail. You can scan the lake for waterfowl, including buffleheads, Barrow’s goldeneyes, ring-necked ducks, and pied-billed grebes. The columned brick Georgian revival home you can see at the bottom of the hill is the Belsito-Worthington House, built by Olympia attorney Trena Belsito Worthington in 1948. A modern “Little Hollywood” of transient tents is clustered under the trees across Deschutes Parkway. The path crosses the 5th Avenue Dam, which keeps out the tides, and enters the lawny expanse of Heritage Park. A small artificial knoll, “East Washington Butte’’ – which complements West Washington Inlet - is landscaped to host plants of the state’s dry interior.

Maps

• Maps: Hike Finder
• Washington State Capitol Campus, Capitol Lake (Washington State Department of Enterprise Services)

Regulations or restrictions, etc

• Dogs on leash
• Park hours: 7:00 a.m. to 9:00 p.m. April 1st – October 31st; 7:00 a.m. to 7:00 p.m. November 1st – March 31st
• Restrooms at Heritage and Marathon Parks, interpretive signs
• Parking limit: 2 hours
• No access to the lake itself because of the mudsnail infestation

Trip Reports

• Search Trip Reports for Capitol Lake Loop Hike

Related Discussions / Q&A

• Search Trail Q&A for Capitol Lake Loop Hike

Guidebooks that cover this hike

• Urban Trails: Olympia by Craig Romano

More Links

• Capitol Lake Trails (Washington State Department of Enterprise Services)
• Heritage Park (Washington State Department of Enterprise Services)
• Capitol Campus (Washington State Department of Enterprise Services)
• Marathon Park (Washington State Department of Enterprise Services)
• Capitol Lake Trails (Marathon Park and Heritage Park) (Washington Trails Association)
• Capitol Lake Trail (All Trails)
• “It’s the wander: Enjoy outdoor walks around our state capital” (Seattle Times)
• Capitol Lake, Historic Swamp (The Cooper Point Journal)
• Capitol Lake (Wikipedia)
• Olympia Capitol – A History of the Building (History Link)
• New Zealand Mudsnail (U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service)

Contributors

• bobcat (creator)