Ravenna Ave Northeast, Ravenna / Bryant

This park is almost like those books I loved as a child in which you start in a place familiar and innocuous and three steps later find yourself surrounded by wild and wonderful mystery.

From the corner of NE Ravenna Blvd and Brooklyn Ave, you can see a grassy lawn, some swing sets and picnic tables, a smallish attempt at a ball field - all standard fare for a small city park. But follow the trail downhill, and suddenly the evergreens tower over your head and a stream trickles alongside the path and the undergirdings of the 15th Ave bridge rise up before you like the gateway to a magical kingdom.

The well-maintained dirt trail continues for almost a mile along the valley floor, merging seamlessly into Ravenna Park, and branching off into a dozen or more side-trails, each of which rewards exploration. The natural beauty of the stream and the wooded hillsides stirs the Pacific Northwest heart, but what sets Cowen/Ravenna apart is the sudden absence of road-noise and even of aircraft noise, only five minutes from I-5 and directly under 15th Ave.

Joggers and dog-walkers know and love the area, and on weekends you might encounter small groups re-enacting medieval battles for entertainment. For me, it's my favorite place to take a quiet walk-and-talk with a good friend. It amazes me that I've met so many people living within a mile or two of the park who never have heard of it!