Top 5 Best Beaches in Seattle for Brown-Baggin' it

Laura Onstot

You brought the frosty mugs, right?!

This is probably jinxing it, but still: HOLY CRAP, SUMMER! Don't look now, but every Teva-wearing, zip-off cargo short-sporting, granola Seattleite is busting out their pasty skin and heading to wherever it is you're headed. Yay for traffic, wet dogs, hot car seats, and bee stings! Even if it only lasts five more days, it's going to be the best five days ever. The heat gives all of us weather amnesia, so we won't remember that it was 60 degrees (give or take) well into July.

Since we recently covered the Five Best Picnic Parks in Seattle, it seemed only right that as the weather gets nicer, we focus on beaches and brown bags (be they full of food or refreshing, illicit beverages, we won't judge). Check out our list of must-do beaches and bag pairings, and saddle up for some pre-Seafair fun in the sun.

5. Carkeek Park (950 N.W. Carkeek Park Rd.)
Miles and miles of trails, wetlands, and beach front cover 220 acres of beautiful scenery. Carkeek is pretty much the family-friendly pick of the bunch, so if your brown bag includes Capri Suns instead of Campari cocktails, this is your speed. You'll need a bigger bag to hold everything a beachgoing family requires, but you're probably well versed in that by now. Carkeek offers all the nature and freezing cold water you can shake a stick out, with much less colorful characters on the whole. Get ready for a PG afternoon at the beach.

Brian Bailey