Parson’s Garden on top of Queen Anne hill gives a quite spot to take it easy. The garden is on a loop that runs about the top of Queen Anne. The loop offers views of Seattle, Elliot Bay and the surrounding mountains.

Activities near Parsons Gardens

Parson’s Garden is on Highland Drive in Queen Anne. Queen Anne is the highest hill in Seattle at 456 feet (139 meters) above sea level. This gives the area great views of the Seattle area.

Some places to visit on Queen Anne include:

• Kerry Park
  • From Parson’s Garden walk away from the water for four blocks. Kerry Park is on the right. Has a great view of downtown Seattle and Mount Rainier when clear.
• Queen Anne Avenue and W. Galer Street
  • The business area for Queen Anne. It has a lot of restaurants, cafes and stores. Top Pot Donuts and Molly Moon’s are Seattle classics.
• Queen Anne Loops
  • There is no trail around Queen Anne Hill. Many routes are available depending on how long you want to walk. Queen Anne Boulevard is a 6-mile road and pathway. Queen Anne is also a good place to walk public stairways.

History of Queen Anne

Humans have lived on Queen Anne for around 3000 years. The local Duwamish people had seasonal homes on Queen Anne. Europeans arrived on Queen Anne in the 1850s.

The hill is named for the Queen Anne style homes first created here in the 1880s and 1890s. Queen Anne architecture is a form of Victorian Architecture. Today almost no Queen Anne style homes remain.

Parson’s Garden was donated to Seattle in 1956. It was created by the Parson’s family for their home.

Style of Parsons Gardens

Parsons Gardens uses naturalism for its design. It create the sense of a forest clearing with a lawn at its middle. Trees and bushes rise around the lawn. The garden has a Japanese influence as many of the plants are from Japan such as Japanese Cherries, Hinoki Cedars and Azaleas.