Washington State's Trail System Just Outside Seattle Connects 2 Lakes And 9 Idyllic Suburban Parks

If you're driving a car through Bellevue, Washington, you may not even notice all the amenities for cyclists. You'll see plenty of other things: wide streets, glittering high rises, and rows of shops and global restaurants. Maybe you'll spot a bike lane, like the long ones along 108th Ave, or a rider will whiz past your windshield on two wheels, but even these might not register. Hop on a bicycle, though, and the scenery transforms before your eyes. Painted lanes guide you down suburban streets. Sidewalks intersect with well-marked trailheads. One route — the Lake to Lake Trail — guides you clear across the metro area, for 10 miles of continuous cycling. 

Named for the two bodies of water at either end, Lake Washington and Lake Sammamish, this trail is an immersive tour of the city and its environs. This is how it is in Bellevue: Once you start looking for places to bike, they appear, as if by magic (and a little help from GPS).

Bellevue is less famous than neighboring Seattle and Redmond (home of Microsoft), but the city has won accolades for its high quality of life. As the population and economy have ballooned in recent decades, planners have leaned into its natural environment. Bellevue encompasses more than 100 public parks, including Meydenbauer Bay, Washington's historic beach park with a forest, stylish houses, and a scenic spot for swimming and paddling. The Lake to Lake Trail tethers together nine of these green spaces, treating cyclists, walkers, and runners to the Pacific Northwest's distinctive forests and wetlands.

The most important thing to know about the Lake to Lake Trail is that it's not one continuous line of asphalt, the way a rail trail usually is. The "trail" cobbles together a network of bike-friendly streets, multi-use paths, and raised boardwalks over marshy grounds. Although the route fundamentally connects two lakes, there's no single start or endpoint; if you begin your journey on the shores of Lake Washington, you can actually start at Meydenbauer Bay Park (up in the city's northwest corner), or you can start farther south at Enatai Beach Park, just beneath the Bellevue East Bridge. Over by Lake Sammamish, the trail splits off in two directions through Weowna Park, and it makes a large rectangular loop around the lesser-known Phantom Lake.

In short, you can mix and match quite a bit, riding part of the way or branching off in other directions. The Lake to Lake Trail is peppered with trailheads and access points, so you can start pedaling just about anywhere along the way. The many parks are flanked with affluent residential developments. In the warmer months, these tracts are peaceful and quiet, and you're likely to spot a good number of fellow nature lovers.

The parks are free and open all year long. Note that this part of Washington State is famously rainy, and Bellevue winters tend to be dreary. Lake Sammamish is also mostly ringed with private property, and access is tricky; your best bet is to bike from the busy Sammamish Parkway, at the northern corner of the lake, to Idylwood Park in Redmond. Here you'll find a small beach, recreational facilities, and a public restroom.

The easiest way to secure a bicycle is through Lime, the international bike-share company. The brand's neon-green bikes and scooters were already popular in Seattle when they hit Bellevue streets in August of 2026. Download the app, unlock a bike, and hit the trail; the dockless system allows you to finish your ride on almost any part of the trail.

For a more personalized riding experience, The Line Bike Experience is a Washington-based company that operates a kiosk on the Eastrail (which connects to the Lake to Lake Trail). Locally owned and solar-powered, the kiosk rents out quality gravel bikes, hardtail mountain bikes, and durable flat bar e-bikes, which enable you to ride over gravel and off-road trails with confidence.

Finally, the city recently inaugurated another system, Ride Bellevue, which provides easy-to-access e-bikes to guests at two hotels, the InterContinental Seattle Bellevue and the Hyatt Regency Bellevue. Guests can find a bike at the hotel, scan a QR code, and ride for free for the first hour. If you want to take an even grander tour, you can ride the 8 miles over to downtown Redmond, Washington's "bicycle capital of the northwest" with endless outdoor fun. If you want to unwind after all that biking, you can explore the shopping mecca that is Bellevue.