The City of Seattle’s geological formation looks as though a glacial hand pressed into the land like cookie dough.  There are valleys across Seattle and north-south-running ridges as though the dough oozed up between the fingers of the hand.  For this reason Seattle is a city of hills and sharp drop-offs where in some places streets could not be put through because of the steep grade.

To get through where there are no streets, Seattle has hillside stairways for pedestrians.  Seattle has more than 660 outdoor stairways which are built and maintained by the City of Seattle’s Department of Transportation.

Blaine Street Steps with Streissguth Gardens at the top. Photo by Cary Simmons.

Some of Seattle’s most well-known stairways are on its steepest hills, Capitol Hill and Queen Anne.

The Howe Street Stairs on Capitol Hill start at the intersection of 10^th Ave East & East Howe Street, and contain 388 steps down to Lakeview Blvd East.  This stairway was built in 1911 and it is believed to have been done so that people could reach a streetcar line on the arterial street.

The Blaine Street Stairs, which are parallel with Howe Street, contain 293 steps.  The Blaine Street Stairs pass through Streissguth Gardens on the hillside.  Hilltop vantage points from both sets of steps, Howe Street and Blaine Street, reward the climber with spectacular views.

Like Capitol Hill, Queen Anne Hill was one of Seattle’s earliest residential neighborhoods.  It acquired its name in the 1880s-1890s because of its many Victorian/Queen Anne style houses.  This hill has had many beautification projects such as creation of boulevards and outlooks for the view southward to downtown Seattle and westward out over Elliott Bay.

Queen Anne’s Willcox Wall, built 1913-1915, is actually a retaining wall with stairs built into it.  It extends between 7^th and 8^th Avenues West and includes the Marshall Park Viewpoint.  The Queen Anne Historical Society has a map of all of the pedestrian stairways on the hill (see source list below.)

Willcox Wall on Queen Anne Hill was built in 1913-1915.

Stairways in and around the Wedgwood neighborhood in northeast Seattle

NE 77th Street stairway

Like many other Seattle neighborhoods, Wedgwood has ridges and valleys.  Some of the ridges are so sharp that the through-street must be connected by a stairway.

Along 30^th Ave NE in Wedgwood is a prominent ridge with a sharp drop-off on its western edge.  In the valley below, bounded by 25^th Ave NE, is the Wedgwood Pool, Dahl Playfield, the Picardo P-Patch, University Prep school and Temple Beth Am.

To reach these community resources, two stairways, one at NE 77^th and one at NE 80^th Street, extend from 30^th Ave NE westward down the hillside.  These east-west stairway crossings make it possible for pedestrians to get down to the valley and go over to the arterial 25^th Ave NE where there is a bus line.

Looking westward out over 30th Ave NE to Dahl Field in the valley below. The road shown running from the bottom of the photo toward 25th Ave NE, is NE 80th Street. The street is broken at the edge of 30th by a steep drop-off and is connected to the continuation of NE 80th by a stairway.  Photo courtesy of Northwest Multiple Listing Service.

Walking routes to Wedgwood School

On 30^th Ave NE at NE 85^th Street is Wedgwood Elementary School.  The hillside stairs along 30^th Ave NE function as ways to walk to and from residential streets to get to the school.

Approaching the NE 90th Street stairway from Ravenna Ave NE up to 25th Ave NE.

In recent years Seattle’s Safe Routes to School program has worked to put in sidewalks and through-routes, even if the routes are stairways instead of streets, leading to neighborhood schools.

North of NE 83^rd Street, the arterial 25^th Ave NE continues on as a residential street only, where the street ascends up yet another elevation in Wedgwood.  At that transition point at NE 83rd Street, the 25^th Ave NE arterial curves around the base of the hill and was once called the Erickson Road, now called Ravenna Ave NE.

NE 90^th Street has a break in it due to a steep drop-off just west of 25^th Ave NE.  There is a stairway connecting the segments of NE 90^th Street to the arterial Ravenna Ave NE below.  The stairs at NE 90^th also help those living in residential neighborhoods near Ravenna Ave NE and Lake City Way NE, to get up the hillside onto the streets leading to Wedgwood School.

We can see that the stairways of Wedgwood are all in the vicinity of community resources, connections to an arterial with its bus stops, and proximity to Wedgwood School at NE 85^th Street & 30^th Ave NE.

The western edge of Wedgwood

Retaining wall on Lake City Way NE at the intersection of NE 95th Street

The western edge of Wedgwood is at Lake City Way NE, which runs through a valley.  On the highway’s western side is a steep hill ascending to 15^th Ave NE, another ridge line.

From 20th Ave NE a path continues westward along NE 95th Street, the southern boundary of the Sacajawea School.

At the intersection of NE 95^th Street from Lake City Way NE, a retaining wall contains a long flight of stairs going up to 20^th Ave NE.

This retaining wall at 95^th & Lake City Way NE failed in 2018 and was rebuilt.  The Lake City Mural Project, with artist Andy Miller and the Lake City Young Leaders Teens, created the present mural on the retaining wall.

On the western hillside above Lake City Way NE, the NE 95^th Street stairs emerge by Sacajawea Elementary School at 9501 20th Ave NE.  A path continues westward along the southern boundary of the school, leading to a park.

A park along the southern boundary of the Sacajawea School with parking area on NE 94th Street.

View Ridge, adjoining Wedgwood on the east

View Ridge Park is at NE 70th Street & 45th Ave NE.

The View Ridge neighborhood is the big sister of Wedgwood as View Ridge was the first housing area worked on by the father of Wedgwood, developer Albert Balch.

On the east side of 45th Ave NE, across from View Ridge Park, two sets of stairs ascend to View Ridge School.

Like Wedgwood, View Ridge has a topography of pronounced ridges and valley areas.

The center line of the View Ridge neighborhood is 40^th Ave NE.  To the east, there is a very high ridge with 50^th Ave NE at the top, descending eastward to Sand Point Way NE on Lake Washington.

The center of the neighborhood is View Ridge Park at NE 70^th Street & 45^th Ave NE.  On the east side of 45^th Ave NE, stairs ascend to View Ridge Elementary School.

Exploring stairways around northeast Seattle

In my exploration of stairways in and around the Wedgwood neighborhood, I found that some books and articles about outdoor stairways have overlooked the northeast Seattle area or are not up to date.  One up-to-date source is Seattle All Stairs, a Google map which also includes a photo of the stairway.

There are many ravines in northeast Seattle, especially along Thornton Creek.  Over the past twenty years improvements in the Thornton Creek Watershed have “daylighted” segments of the creek, bringing it out of drainage pipes.  Sometimes viewing platforms and walkways or stairways have been added.  One example is at the Thornton Creek Water Quality Channel at Northgate, where the creek is visible and landscaping features were built around it.

Looking east across the Thornton Creek Water Quality Channel, we see the pathways and viewing areas around the channel cut diagonally through the block. The buildings on the perimeter are: left: Thornton Place Apartments; center: Aljoya retirement community; right: Kaiser medical building on the corner of 5th Ave NE and NE 100th Street.

For more info:

Stairs from 30th Ave NE in Wedgwood to reach Dahl Field

Queen Anne Historical Society:  Under the “shop” tab on the website, Queen Anne Historical Society offers a map of the Hill’s 120 pedestrian public stairways.

SDOT Bridges, Stairs and Other Structures and the Stairway Maintenance Program.  Stairways are built and maintained by the Seattle Department of Transportation.

Seattle All Stairs:  a Google map of more than 650 public stairways in Seattle.  Click on the placemarks to see a photo of the stairway.

Seattle Walks: Discovering History and Nature in the City, by David B. Williams, 2017.  While not specifically about stairways, this is the best book available about walking tours of different Seattle neighborhoods with info on architecture, geology, history and plants.  In addition to his books and the essays on his blog page, the author is now leading virtual walking tours where you can go along to see the stories in stone in Seattle buildings.

New houses built next to the NE 77th Street stairs which help pedestrians cross 30th Ave NE.  The orange excavator machine at right, has just demolished another house, where a third new house will be built in this row.