The trail begins near the Ballard Bridge, then roughly follows a string of waterways for its 18-mile distance. The trail roughly follows the Lake Washington Ship Canal before traversing along Union Lake. Finally, the trail reaches the shores of Lake Washington, providing truly stunning views across the wide-open water.

While the route shown here measures 18 miles one-way, you can tailor this distance as you see fit. If you ride an out-and-back, you can easily get to 36 miles, and if you connect to other nearby greenway paths, you can go much, much further. Or, if you want to hike a short way, you can do that too, beginning from any number of parks and access points along the trail.