A short walk from the Carl English Botanical Gardens at the Ballard Locks south to the salmon ladder, then up onto the south wall of the locks for a quiet view of the sound, then back to Market Street for coffee. Forty-five minutes if you don’t stop; ninety if you do.
Start at the small gate on the south side of NW 54th Street. The botanical garden is free and most people walk past it on their way to the salmon ladder — it’s worth fifteen minutes by itself, especially in late June when the rose hedges are out. The garden was designed by Carl English in 1931 to demonstrate that exotic plants could survive Seattle winters; most of them have, the way Seattle plants tend to.
The salmon ladder is on the south side of the locks, accessible from the garden via a short path. From late June through October there are usually salmon visible through the underwater viewing windows — sockeye in summer, coho and chinook later. The viewing room is below ground, dim, and quiet. Bring a kid; they remember it.
Walking back: take the lock’s pedestrian crossing across the gates themselves (closed during boat lockings, which take about twelve minutes). The view from the middle of the gates is east toward Lake Union and west toward the Sound — it’s the only place in the city you can stand in both views at once.
Coffee at the end of the walk: Slate on Ballard Avenue. Brutal espresso, kind people, big windows. Not the place that’s always on lists; that’s the appeal.