The Department of Parks and Recreation maintains the City's parks, shorelines, and boulevards and administers community centers, public golf courses, and other athletic and cultural facilities. Seattle's first park was established in 1884 after David Denny donated land to the City for that purpose. At that time, a three-member park committee, with limited authority, was created to manage the nascent park system. A Board of Parks Commissioners was established in 1890 with control over all public parks and authority to appoint a Parks Superintendent. In 1896, the City Charter created the position of Superintendent of Streets, Sewers and Parks. The Parks Department became a separate entity in 1904. In 1926, a City Charter Amendment abolished the position of Superintendent, distributing its responsibilities between the Head Gardener and the Landscape Architect. A 1948 City Charter amendment required the Board of Park Commissioners to appoint a park superintendent to administer the department. In 1967, another City Charter Amendment reconstituted the Board as an advisory body to the Mayor and City Council, changed the agency name to Department of Parks and Recreation, and placed fiscal and operational administration under the superintendent.

The Burke-Gilman Trail is a bicycle and pedestrian trail built on the original path of the Seattle, Lake Shore & Eastern Railroad, and is named after railroad founders Thomas Burke and Daniel Gilman. Later mergers brought the railway under the ownership of the Northern Pacific and then Burlington Northern. When BN decided to abandon the line in 1971, the city acquired the right-of-way to create a public trail. The heavily used trail runs from Fremont to Kenmore, where it connects to the Sammamish River Trail.