Capitol Lake Park

First time running around the lake. It’s a pretty straight forward, run around the lake, type of path. There are bathrooms located at both sides of the lake, maybe at a mid point. Parking is free after 5 on weekdays and free on the weekends. I’m not sure what the distance is, but it’s fairly easy to run around. There are lots of water fountains, trash cans and doggy bag stations. I feel like the good people in this city do actually care about the ground they run on because it looked well kept to me. There’s a water fountain/​spray thingy located across the docking area. This place has a great view from almost any angle and allows for some pretty nice photo opportunities during sunrise/​sunset.

Capitol Lake Park is good. On the one hand, it has beautiful views of the just marvelous capitol and its surrounding, beautiful, tall trees. However, traffic can be heard even though the water is a bit away from the street. There are both drinking fountains and restrooms. This is all near much of the remaining parts of downtown Olympia.
My visit here was to see the capitol from a more macro angle. It was nice, though I prefer nature to be a bit more quiet. Still, the big building and the surrounding water invoked the image of the national capitol in my mind, so this park is a bit compelling.
Enjoy Capitol Lake Park.

Great for a stroll, jog or dogwalk. Complete loop around the Deschutes river drainage area. Welcome to the butthole of Puget Sound.

Great place to go for a walk or have a picnic.

Nice view, the environment is friendly and peaceful.
Tips: watch out for dog poopoo. They’re everywhere.

Nice clean lake/​park! Great place to take a walk or run or let your children ride your bike around. It’s about 1.55 miles around the lake. Very scenic. Usually at big parks like this, you would have a handful of bums but not the case here.. maybe they out and about…

A really nice place to stroll around on a warm summer night. Clean and well kept, a good park to read a book in!

Capitol Lake Park is great for taking a walk or having a picnic. Many days I would do both! It’s fun to walk in a group or alone. You can take your time and enjoy the lake. Sometimes there are quite a few waterfowl bobbing in the water. The park is well maintained and the grass is green. It’s a good park and I’m fortunate to live close by.

I love this park and the walk around the lake. There are always birds, especially during migration times. One summer, I had a birthday party here — just brought a canopy and food and had friends meet me there. The walk is enough to get your heart going, and people are friendly. Sometimes I just walk the parts that aren’t next to the road, but the only really noisy part is about a block by the bridge up to the westside.

This is a wonderful place to walk around the lake with views of the Capitol building reflecting in the water. The pathway is wide and flat making it ideal to walk or run side by side with friends or family for a quick loop around the water. Leashed dogs are also permitted, and there are plenty of grassy fields and trees next to the dirt path that make it enjoyable for four-​legged, furry friends. Part of the path was paved sidewalk and part of it was dirt/​gravel, but all of it was accessible for those pushing kids in strollers. There were benches along the way if you needed to rest. A bus stop is located on the far side. Public restrooms are available at both Heritage Park and Marathon Park which are on opposite sides of the lake. Metered, street parking surrounded Heritage Park, but it was free on the weekend. The lot at Marathon Park appeared to be free. County plaques with interesting facts were placed along the base of stone walls throughout the path, but I couldn’t read most of them because of the accumulation of dirt and their close proximity to the ground.
If I lived here, I would probably walk/​run this path everyday.

Nice Place to Walk around in Morning or at Sunset. Like the tiles they name all the counties and there history that run around the lake. Also year also the place had very bad drainage it improved now no more wet feet during my walks last few time i visited there.

This is a really nice park surrounding Capitol Lake. It has a path that encircles the entire lake, which I run on weekly. It’s well-​kept, has nice gravel for running, and is generally pretty devoid of people (not sure why that is!). While I’m in favor of the city tearing down the dam to reestablish the natural estuary, I do find the lake to be pretty (though it can smell at times since it is so stagnant). The park has lots of grassy area for picnicking, playing sports, or fetch with the dog. It also is minutes walking from downtown, so there is plenty to do nearby.

This park is super great. The grounds are usually well kept (trash cans all over the place, doggie doo bags strategically placed, grass cut to a nice length, bathrooms are… ok). I know they had to block off several sections of the park a while back since they were heavily damaged by the «Occupy Olympia» movement. I was kind of said I was unable to use a public park based on damaged grass and possible contamination by waste.
Anyway, this park is perfect for throwing a picnic, of riding a bike, or running more than a mile. The actual lake is man made and is fenced off I believe due to contamination or invasive plant species so whomp whomp to that. And the water is a bit smelly in places. I will also say, the park is nice at night as well, but I wish they had a little bit more lighting in places because sometimes I come across some people hanging out in the dark spots and it surprises me a bit and makes my doggies go off.
You do run across a few homeless folks on the benches but I don’t ever feel threatened at night or during the day. There is a great view of the Capitol building and a small trail that leads up the Capitol if you want to include that in your run. I believe the circle around the lake is about 1.5 mi., but the biking/​running trails go on for several miles so it’s good for all levels.
The do have bathrooms but I think they close at dusk. And the park is in the heart of Olympia so that makes it even better.

I walk around this lake for miles every day. It’s clean and safe and pretty. There are a couple of stinky spots, but it’s a man-​ufactured lake, so I don’t expect much.
It’s the best place to watch and pet dogs in Olympia. They are everywhere. Plus, the restrooms are always clean and there are garbage cans and doggy-​dung bags all over the place.
Some places are inviting to everyone. This is one of those places.

Lovely constructed pathway that wraps around the lake. I appreciate that it is gravel, and not purely cement. Fantastic view of the Capitol Building… a few blocks from the downtown core.
I just wish they’d have some clean-​up mission there soon as it’s kind of… dirty. You know, trash and ickiness flailing about.
But it is Olympia after all.

love the waterfront by the capitol building. on a nice day it looks amazing.

It’s a pretty little lake that has a walking path around most of the lake. It does not go all the way around the lake due to the forest. There are benches, public washrooms, and garbage cans around the lake. I can see people working at the capital to take a break by walking around the lake or having their lunch at the benches.
Check out the website! I guess in the summer, bats comes out at night?!