page_title: Mountlake Terrace, Washington
section_title: Parks and recreation
hierarchical_section_title: Mountlake Terrace, Washington / Culture / Parks and recreation
caption_attribution_description: English: Lake Ballinger and surrounding area, Statewide NAIP 2017 3ft 4band Imagery
context_page_description: Mountlake Terrace is a suburban city in Snohomish County, Washington, United States. It lies on the southern border of the county, adjacent to Shoreline and Lynnwood, and is 13 miles north of Seattle. The city had a population of 19,909 people counted in the 2010 census.
  Mountlake Terrace was founded in 1949 by real estate developers on the site of a disused airfield, intending to provide low-cost housing for veterans. Within five years, the community had grown to over 5,000 people and was incorporated as a city in 1954 to provide municipal services. An industrial park was developed at the northwest corner of the city, which was connected by Interstate 5 after it opened in 1965. Mountlake Terrace originally had several small shopping centers that declined due to the local economy and a pair of arsons in 1990.
  The city government began developing a downtown revitalization plan with mixed-use buildings in the 2000s, with hopes of growing beyond a bedroom community for Seattle commuters. The Mountlake Terrace Transit Center, a major bus hub, opened in 2009 and is planned to have Link light rail service in 2024.
context_section_description: Mountlake Terrace has 18 public parks with 262 acres (106 ha) of open space that is maintained by the city government. The city also partners with the Edmonds School District and privately owned recreation spaces to host events and activities for residents. The public and private parks have a total of 14 baseball fields, 13 soccer fields, 19 playgrounds, 15 tennis courts, and 4 indoor basketball courts. The main community center in the Mountlake Terrace is the Recreation Pavilion, which opened on November 26, 1968, and includes several swimming pools, a lazy river, racquetball courts, and an indoor gymnasium. The facility was renovated in 2003 and has been the subject of replacement or expansion plans that were not realized.
  Terrace Creek Park is the city's largest, at 60 acres (24 ha), and includes hiking trails, open fields, and a disc golf course. It is located adjacent to the Recreation Pavilion and straddles the boundary between the Town Center and Cedar Terrace neighborhood along a section of Lyon Creek. The west side of the Town Center is home to Veterans Memorial Park, a forested area near Interstate 5 with hiking trails and a playground.
  The city government's former golf course was converted into Ballinger Park in 2013, located on 42 acres (17 ha) on the north end of Lake Ballinger. The park includes a boat launch, a fishing pier, swimming areas, sports fields, and Edmount Island. The Nile Shrine had built their own golf course on the east side of the lake in 1968 and opened it to the public in 1996, which drew people from the municipal course. The park is adjacent to the Interurban Trail, an inter-city hiking and cycling trail developed in the late 1990s that travels between Seattle and Everett on the former interurban railway route. The privately owned Olympicview Ice Arena in Mountlake Terrace is home to the Washington Huskies college hockey team and other skating groups.
caption: Aerial image of Lake Ballinger in 2017, showing the city park and part of the Nile Shrine golf course
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