Discover Kent

In Kent, you can choose from nature watching, cycling routes, and cultural attractions, each with its own focus. Along the Green River Trail, you’ll find covered benches for birdwatching; parks and museums offer their own highlights. The Earthworks bike route also combines exercise with landscape art. If you’re looking for a hotel in Kent, these themes can shape your trip planning: decide whether you’d rather explore trails and wetlands, experience outdoor art, or learn about local history and hydroplane racing.

Parks, Water, and Trails

Osprey nests and several covered birdwatching benches can be found along the banks of the Green River Trail. The Green River Natural Resources Area is a 304-acre wildlife sanctuary in the heart of Kent. Clark Lake Park offers a different scale, at 154.3 acres. Lake Meridian Park has a designated swimming beach—a specific spot for anyone looking to include swimming in their trip plans.

The six-mile Soos Creek Trail passes through forests, wetlands, and meadows in Kent. It is paved throughout, with an unpaved equestrian trail running alongside some sections. When choosing a route, you can consider both the scenery and the trail surface. The Green River Trail runs for nearly 20 miles along the Green River from Kent to Seattle’s southern city limits. The different distances help you plan the bike route you want, without implying any particular travel time.

Parking for the Green River Trail is available at its intersection with the Interurban Trail on S. 259th Street. Parking for the Soos Creek Trail is available at its northern and southern trailheads in Kent: at the intersection of SE 192nd Street and 124th Avenue SE, and at the intersection of 148th Avenue SE and SE 266th Street.

Cycling and Landscape Art

The signed Earthworks Tour is a self-guided cycling route with options ranging from 12 to 23 miles. Along the way, you can experience four internationally recognized landscape art installations up close. For those considering a shorter option, a family-friendly 12-mile route follows flat terrain to the Green River Natural Resources Area and back. Its signs and range of distances make the Earthworks Tour a different way to discover Kent than a ride on the Soos Creek Trail.

Mill Creek Earthworks Park is associated with an internationally recognized collection of landscape art. The Earthworks installation consists of sculpted earth, paths, water features, and lawns; together, these elements serve as a public park and a work of landscape art. It offers a specific point of interest for visitors interested in the connection between designed landscapes and art. The bike tour and the park offer different experiences: one is a signed route to several installations, while the other is itself an Earthworks installation.

Museums and History in Kent

The Hydroplane & Raceboat Museum focuses on historic hydroplane boats spanning seven decades. It also features more than 200 hours of historic racing films about hydroplane racing, covering the period from the 1940s to the present. The collection and film archive offer two distinct ways to explore the sport: historic boats and moving images from different eras.

The Greater Kent Historical Society Museum is housed in the historic Bereiter House. Seven historic living spaces invite visitors to imagine life around the turn of the 20th century. Kent itself also has an early park history: Rosebed Park was established in 1906 as the city’s first park. At Kherson Park, space-themed play features are inspired by NASA’s Apollo missions. These places and collections take you from local history and historic living spaces to spaceflight themes—a varied complement to nature and cycling destinations.

Discover more destinations: Woodinville, Kirkland, Federal Way, North Bend, Seatac, Newcastle, Burien, Baring.

For the main travel overview: King.