Drive guide
I-405 — Lynnwood to Renton
65 things worth knowing along this corridor, in the order you meet them driving. Every one is sourced.
Sal reads these as you pass them, and answers when you ask.
Start a withby driveSal’s stories on I-405
Along the way
developmentLynnwood City Center station
A park and ride near I-5 and 44th Avenue West opened in May 1981 with 808 stalls, the largest of its kind in Washington, and was rebuilt in 2003 as Lynnwood Transit Center. Light rail service began there on August 30, 2024, and the facility was renamed Lynnwood City Center station.
Source: en.wikipedia.org
institutionTukwila Library
The $9.6 million Tukwila Library opened on April 29, 2017, at Tukwila International Boulevard and S 144th Street. It replaced the nearby Foster Library and was the first building completed in the six-acre Tukwila Village development.
Source: historylink.org
quirkFoster Rock
The Foster Rock was found when King County leveled 51st Avenue South, survived a dynamite blast, and was dragged to an intersection where students began painting it in the 1930s. In the sixties it was moved up to the Foster High School campus.
Source: westsideseattle.com
historySuperintendent's Cottage
The Superintendent's Cottage and the Water Tower are the only surviving structures of the 33-acre Demonstration Farm the Puget Mill Company built in 1917 along the Interurban Railway. The Lynnwood-Alderwood Manor Heritage Association rescued the cottage during interchange construction in 1997 and moved it to Heritage Park.
Source: lynnwoodwa.gov
developmentAlderwood Mall
Allied Stores announced a mall in 1969 and cleared 110 acres west of the I-5 and I-405 interchange, but the project stalled until developer Edward DeBartolo Sr. built Alderwood Mall, which opened on October 4, 1979. A 2002 to 2004 renovation added The Village and shortened its name to Alderwood.
Source: historylink.org
developmentLynnwood Place
The former Lynnwood High School at 3001 184th St SW was built in 1969, and its site sat vacant from 2009 to 2015 after the school relocated. In October 2007 the Edmonds School District reached a deal with Cypress Equities for a 99-year lease, and the site was redeveloped as Lynnwood Place, with a Costco that opened on October 1, 2015.
Source: en.wikipedia.org
quirkWell Number 5
Well Number 5, also called the 164th Street Artesian Well, is one of ten artesian wells that supplied the Alderwood area in the 1950s; the other nine were capped when the water district contracted with Everett for its supply. In the early 2000s its taps were moved about 100 feet from a wooded spot to a structure alongside 164th Street.
Source: en.wikipedia.org
developmentSR 518
SR 518 runs from Burien past Seattle-Tacoma International Airport and ends at an interchange with I-5 in Tukwila, as the freeway becomes I-405. It was codified in 1937, and during the 1970s the roadway was widened into a freeway to serve the airport.
Source: en.wikipedia.org
historyState Route 525
State Route 525, which runs from Lynnwood to the Mukilteo ferry and across Whidbey Island, was extended from Highway 99 to the newly completed I-5 in February 1965 along 164th Street. In the 1980s it was moved onto a two-lane freeway that extended the route to I-405, and its interchange with I-5 was completed in November 1984.
Source: en.wikipedia.org
sightTukwila Pond Park
Tukwila Pond Park is a 24-acre natural area in the midst of Southcenter, most of it a 19-acre pond that formed in this low-lying area after development spread across the formerly agricultural river valley after the 1950s. The Audubon Society noted it as a bird observation site.
Source: archive.seattletimes.com
historyTukwila School
The Tukwila School, built in 1920, taught grades one through six until 1946. The city used it as its Town Hall from 1947 to 1978, it was the Tukwila Library from 1980 to 2010, and the Tukwila Historical Society renamed it the Tukwila Heritage and Cultural Center.
Source: en.wikipedia.org
developmentSR 524
In 2018, WSDOT installed a pair of roundabouts on SR 524 on both sides of its I-405 underpass to handle increasing commuter traffic.
Source: en.wikipedia.org
historyRhododendron Park
Rhododendron Park, on 13 acres in Kenmore, was once the home of Reginald A. "Charlie" Pearce, who settled there in 1920 and turned a rhododendron hobby into the State Flower Nursery. The nursery became a county park in 1971 through Forward Thrust funding, and the City of Kenmore took it over in 2001.
Source: historylink.tours
sightKenmore Mural
The Kenmore Mural Project began with emails between the City of Kenmore and St. Vincent de Paul staff in May of 2015, and the mural was completed in the summer of 2016. It is 188 feet long by 12 feet tall and tells the cultural and historical narrative of the City of Kenmore.
Source: historylink.tours
institutionKenmore Community Club
The Kenmore Community Club opened in March of 1930, bought a piano and formed an orchestra that also played for dances at other small settlements in the area. It was organized for citizens to discuss local issues such as road construction, and over the decades hosted dances, potlucks and the annual Klondike Night.
Source: historylink.tours
historySchnitzelbank
The Schnitzelbank building on Bothell Way was built in 1926 to house the Chili Bowl Café and became the Wishbone Inn in the 1940s. Bob and Hildegard McKisson bought it in 1961 and ran it as a Bavarian-style restaurant until they retired in 1994; since 2000 it has housed a gift shop and later a toy shop.
Source: historylink.tours
historyƛ̕ax̌wadis (Tl' awh-ah-dees) Park
In April 2021 Squire's Landing Park was renamed ƛ̕ax̌wadis (Tl' awh-ah-dees) Park, the name of the Lushootseed village once located in or near present-day downtown Kenmore. The renovation of 11 acres of the park restored salmon habitat along the Swamp Creek shoreline and planted over 15,000 new native plants and 5,000 new native trees.
Source: historylink.tours
seasonalGreat Blue Heron Rookery
Kenmore's heron rookery, at the north end of the Kenmore Park and Ride, includes dozens of nests refurbished each year by returning great blue herons. It draws bird lovers and photographers during nesting season, from mid-February to late July.
Source: historylink.tours
institutionLynnwood High School
The school buildings are located on North Road, east of Lynnwood. The funding for construction was approved in 2006 and construction began in June 2007, after a wooded area was logged. Designed by Bassetti Architects, the building was opened on September 8, 2009. ... The new building received the international annual design award of the Council of Educational Facilities Planners International for 2010, the James D. MacConnell Award for outstanding new educational facilities.
Source: en.wikipedia.org
historyCorcoran Memorial Park
Completed in 2024. Corcoran Memorial Park is a neighborhood park in unincorporated southwest Snohomish County near Bothell. The small 3.43 acre park has a playground, picnic area, walking paths and open space. On September 11, 2019, James W. Corcoran donated 3.43 acres of land he owned to the Snohomish County Parks & Recreation Division. ... Mr. Corcoran lived on the site until his passing on June 14, 2022. The property is known as Corcoran Memorial Park in memory of Mr. Corcoran's younger brother, Richard Corcoran, who died in 1970 shortly after serving in Vietnam with the 82nd Airborne Division; his nephew, Ron Dequilletes, who perished in the SR 530 Landslide in 2014; and two brothers lost in a plane crash in 1960 while serving in the Navy.
Source: snohomishcountywa.gov
institutionWizards of the Coast
Wizards of the Coast (WotC) was founded by Peter Adkison in 1990 outside of Seattle, Washington, and its current headquarters is located in nearby Renton. WotC debuted Magic: The Gathering in July 1993 at Origins Game Fair in Dallas. In 1999, toy manufacturer Hasbro acquired the company and currently operates it as a subsidiary.
Source: en.wikipedia.org
historyCountry Village
Business owners tell KIRO 7 the Country Village in Bothell closed for good Sunday evening after nearly 40 years in the community. ... Ankney said the owner of Country Village sold the property to a developer to build townhomes, which can already be seen behind the rustic storefronts. ... According to its website, Country Village was once home to more than 35 locally owned shops and restaurants. ... Ankney said there would be an upcoming auction for some of the fixtures around Country Village, which opened in 1981.
Source: kiro7.com
historyRenton Shopping Center
Renton Shopping Center was the city's first shopping mall. It was located on a 28-acre site near the intersection of Sunset Boulevard and Rainier Ave South. It opened in March 1960, years before I-5, I-405, or Southcenter mall were constructed. Fred Meyer purchased the property and built their superstore on the site in 1995. Before they demolished the building, they saved the fountain and sculptures and donated them to the city, and they can still be seen today.
Source: rentonhistory.org
quirkSpace Needle of Renton
This mini Space Needle replica is about 60 feet tall. It has been here since at least the 1970s. It was originally built for Renton Dodge. This U-Haul outlet has been here for many years. The top part of the Space Needle sign revolves.
Source: roadarch.com
historyNorth Creek School
North Creek School is a school building located in Bothell, Washington listed on the National Register of Historic Places. Built in 1902, it served as a school for 18 years. ... After closing in 1920, it served as a meeting location for the Canyon Park Community Club until about 1950. ... Originally located on the northwest corner of 31st Avenue S.E. and 228th Street S.E., about one mile east of Canyon Park Shopping Center, in 2008 the schoolhouse was moved to Centennial Park at 1129 208th Street SE.
Source: en.wikipedia.org
historyATL Ultrasound
Royal Philips Electronics bought ATL Ultrasound in July 1998 and kept Bothell as its headquarters for ultrasound development.
Source: heraldnet.com
historyBothell–Everett Highway
The Bothell–Everett portion of the Pacific Highway was paved with concrete in 1916, following a bond issue for improved roads approved by Snohomish County voters the year before.
Source: en.wikipedia.org
historyThe Moses Family of Renton
For many decades members of the Moses family of Duwamish Indians lived in a rough dwelling near the Black River, just to the west of the Renton High School site. The river began drying up in 1916 after the Lake Washington Ship Canal opened.
Source: historylink.org
institutionRenton IKEA Performing Arts Center
In 1999 the Renton Community, Renton School District, City of Renton and the Renton Community Foundation formed a partnership for the Renton IKEA Performing Arts Center. A $500,000 pledge from IKEA secured naming rights, and the center opened its doors for a donor gala on June 6, 2003.
Source: rentonschools.us
historyRenton High School
Renton High School was founded in 1911. Its first building stood on wooden pilings that started to rot when Lake Washington was lowered for the ship canal, and it was replaced by a larger school in March 1932.
Source: en.wikipedia.org
historySammamish Slough races
The Sammamish Slough Race, an annual spring race on the 13-mile link between Lake Washington and Lake Sammamish, was held 47 times starting in 1928; F hydros topped 80 mph, crowds were estimated at 40,000 to 80,000, and it folded after a spectator was hit by a boat in 1976.
Source: archive.seattletimes.com
historyThrasher’s Corner
In 1928, Freda and Lyman Thrasher moved with three sons to the Bothell area and opened a grocery, gas station and towing company where the Bothell-Everett Highway and 208th Street SE intersect.
Source: heraldnet.com
historyBothell Main Street
David Bothell bought land here in 1885, the railroad arrived in 1888, he filed the town plat in 1889, and Bothell incorporated in 1909 with his son George as first mayor.
Source: historylink.org
historyIcos
Icos, founded in 1989, moved from temporary offices in downtown Seattle to Bothell in September 1990. It was the largest biotechnology company in Washington before it was sold to Eli Lilly and Company in 2007.
Source: en.wikipedia.org
developmentBus Base North
Sound Transit selected a Canyon Park site in 2021, from a pool of thirty candidates, for Bus Base North, the sole operations and maintenance facility for Stride.
Source: en.wikipedia.org
developmentGoogle Kirkland
Google opened a small Kirkland office in 2004 and by 2013 it was the company's third-largest engineering center.
Source: spokesman.com
quirkBurgermaster
From 1981 to 1986 Microsoft's headquarters, the Northup Building in Bellevue, sat next door to the Burgermaster drive-in. In Windows 3.0 the data segment that tracked all the other data segments was named the BurgerMaster; according to one story the developer named it after seeing the restaurant's sign from his window. Bill Gates's secretary kept Burgermaster on speed dial.
Source: devblogs.microsoft.com
institutionChace's Pancake Corral
Chace's Pancake Corral at 1606 Bellevue Way SE has been family-run since 1958, keeping its Western theme and Bill Chace's original recipes.
Source: seattletimes.com
developmentBellevue 600 tower
Bellevue 600 is a 43-story, 600-foot Amazon office tower beside the downtown transit center; it topped out in September 2024, joining 555 Tower as Bellevue's tallest.
Source: en.wikipedia.org
development2 Line light rail
Sound Transit's 2 Line started service on April 27, 2024, an 8-station Eastside starter line running between South Bellevue and Redmond Technology Station; Sound Transit estimated 35,000 boardings on opening day, when crush loads of passengers poured in for their first ride.
Source: theurbanist.org
quirkUW Bothell crows
UW Bothell's North Creek Wetland hosted a nightly roost of more than 14,000 crows from 2016, peaking around 20,000 in 2022; by early 2025 the crows had moved to a new roost in the Sammamish Valley near Redmond.
Source: uwb.edu
sightNorth Creek wetland
UW Bothell's North Creek wetland, begun in 1997 on 58 acres of former pastureland, is one of the largest and most complex floodplain restorations in Washington State, and the most successful.
Source: uwb.edu
seasonalMercer Slough Blueberry Farm
The Mercer Slough Blueberry Farm, at 2220 Bellevue Way SE, was first set up in the 1940s and is run by Bellevue Parks & Community Services. It offers seasonal U-pick blueberries, usually from mid-July to early September.
Source: bellevuewa.gov
sightMercer Slough
Mercer Slough begins just west of Interstate 405 and empties into Lake Washington's East Channel at Interstate 90. It is the centerpiece of the largest wetland next to Lake Washington, at 367 acres.
Source: en.wikipedia.org
quirkKirkland Signature
Costco launched its Kirkland Signature house brand in 1995, naming it for Kirkland, Washington, then home of its headquarters; the company kept the name even after moving headquarters to Issaquah.
Source: cnn.com
sightWilburton Trestle
King County is turning the 1,000-foot Wilburton Trestle, the longest wooden trestle in the Pacific Northwest, into a trail bridge on the 42-mile Eastrail.
Source: eastrail.org
developmentVillage at Totem Lake
Totem Lake Mall opened in 1973, went into steady decline, and was redeveloped starting in 2016 into the mixed-use Village at Totem Lake, with retail, restaurants, office space and on-site residential.
Source: en.wikipedia.org
developmentSpring District
The 36-acre Spring District rose on the site of a former Safeway distribution center in the Bel-Red area: a 16-block transit-oriented development of housing, offices and retail centered on its own light rail station, where REI planned a headquarters campus and in 2020 sold it unfinished to Facebook, now Meta.
Source: en.wikipedia.org
institutionBellevue Botanical Garden
Bellevue Botanical Garden, established in 1992, has grown from a 7-acre gift to the city into a 53-acre public park; it has kept admission free, with its Society run on an all-volunteer basis and many organizations helping maintain the gardens.
Source: en.wikipedia.org
seasonalGarden d'Lights
Garden d'Lights, now in its 31st year at Bellevue Botanical Garden, shapes over half a million lights into plants, flowers, birds and animals.
Source: bellevuebotanical.org
quirkBridle Trails horse country
Bridle Trails State Park in Kirkland, one of the top equestrian parks west of the Mississippi, has 28 miles of trails open to riders and four horse arenas.
Source: parks.wa.gov
quirkTolt Pipeline crossing
The Tolt pipeline carries water to the City of Seattle from the Tolt Reservoir in the Cascades to the Lake Forest Park Reservoir; part of its 100-foot-wide right-of-way is a 12-mile unpaved trail from Duvall to Bothell.
Source: wta.org
quirkFactoria
A stove factory was built at the townsite platted by E. L. Skeel's Mercer Land Company in 1908 but never manufactured a single stove; in 1911 the stalled project was re-platted as Factoria, a name meant to attract major industries. Promoters pitched coal smoke 'belching from hundreds of smokestacks' and expected at least 20 plants, but the industry never came.
Source: en.wikipedia.org
quirkWoodinville wine country
Woodinville has more than 130 wineries across four winemaking districts, yet no vineyards are located there; nearly all Washington wine grapes are grown east of the Cascade Mountains in Eastern Washington.
Source: portseattle.org
developmentWilmot Gateway Park
Wilmot Gateway Park, Woodinville's first public community park, covers 3.7 acres and is named for Jerry Wilmot, a founding father of the City of Woodinville. State grants and thousands of private donations, gathered in a drive sponsored by the Woodinville Rotary Club, helped pay for it, and donors are recognized in engravings on brick and tiles throughout the park.
Source: wta.org
developmentT-Mobile headquarters
T-Mobile's renovated headquarters campus in Bellevue encompasses over one million square feet of workspace.
Source: gensler.com
institutionKelsey Creek Farm
Kelsey Creek Farm, owned and run by the City of Bellevue, is home to ponies, goats, sheep, cows, pigs, chickens, ducks and rabbits, and holds a sheep-shearing day each April.
Source: bellevuewa.gov
institutionWoodinville High School
Woodinville High School opened in 1983 on a 50-acre site in the Northshore School District. A special education and administration addition followed in 1990, and from 2009 to 2012 the school was demolished and rebuilt as a new building with a theater.
Source: en.wikipedia.org
developmentMolbak's site
Molbak's Garden + Home closed in January 2024 after 67 years, and Woodinville has since approved a developer's application to build on the former site.
Source: komonews.com
developmentLittle Bear Creek Advance Mitigation Site
The Little Bear Creek Advance Mitigation Site is a 17-acre former homestead in the lower Little Bear Creek watershed near Woodinville. Snohomish County started the project in 2019, removed the site structures, restored wetlands and stream habitat, and planted more than 21,000 native trees and shrubs, and the site is to be left as a conservation area.
Source: snohomishcountywa.gov
institutionWoodinville Whiskey Co.
Woodinville Whiskey Co. began with two best friends; all of its grain is grown by the Omlin family on their small, 3rd-generation family farm in Quincy, Washington.
Source: lvmh.com
historyGrace
Grace began as a railroad flag stop near the Snohomish-King County line, where locomotives began to strain to climb Maltby Hill. A shingle mill and a sawmill with a logging rail line operated there along Little Bear Creek until a 1907 downturn in the lumber industry put the Grace mills out of business.
Source: historylink.org
institutionWoodinville Heritage Museum
The Woodinville Heritage Museum occupies the DeYoung House, a Dutch Colonial home built in 1931 by John and Ellen DeYoung. The DeYoungs arrived in Woodinville in 1925, and the Woodinville Heritage Society runs the museum with volunteers.
Source: woodinvilleheritage.org
institutionChrysalis School
Karen L. Fogle founded the Chrysalis School in her home in 1983. The private school has been accredited since 1995 and serves grades K-12 at two campuses.
Source: en.wikipedia.org
seasonalSte. Michelle summer concerts
Chateau Ste. Michelle's Summer Concert Series has run since 1984; concertgoers may bring a blanket and a chair, settle on the estate lawn with a glass of wine, and have heard acts such as James Taylor, The Beach Boys and Stevie Wonder.
Source: woodinvillewinecountry.com
Landscape you can see from the road
| Feature | Type |
|---|---|
| Bear Creek | Stream |
| Beckstrom Hill | Summit |
| Black River | Stream |
| Coal Creek | Stream |
| East Channel | Bay |
| Forbes Lake | Lake |
| Goff Creek | Stream |
| Green River | Stream |
| Honey Dew Creek | Stream |
| Kelsey Creek | Stream |
| Lake Boren | Lake |
| Lake Sturtevant | Lake |
Stops along this corridor
| Kind | Count |
|---|---|
| restaurant | 1624 |
| fast food | 483 |
| coffee | 443 |
| park | 429 |
| grocery | 405 |
| bar | 282 |
| memorial | 16 |
| museum | 11 |
| viewpoint | 2 |
| waterfall | 1 |
| attraction | 1 |
Exits along this corridor
Each one lists what is actually within a short detour, ordered by how far off the highway it is.
- Exit 1 — 214 places worth stopping for
- Exit 2 — 307 places worth stopping for
- Exit 3 — 278 places worth stopping for
- Exit 4 — 383 places worth stopping for
- Exit 5 — 139 places worth stopping for
- Exit 6 — 32 places worth stopping for
- Exit 7 — 30 places worth stopping for
- Exit 9 — 22 places worth stopping for
- Exit 10 — 113 places worth stopping for
- Exit 11 — 138 places worth stopping for
- Exit 12 — 165 places worth stopping for
- Exit 13 — 602 places worth stopping for
- Exit 14 — 558 places worth stopping for
- Exit 17 — 159 places worth stopping for
- Exit 18 — 162 places worth stopping for
- Exit 20 — 205 places worth stopping for
- Exit 21 — 181 places worth stopping for
- Exit 22 — 38 places worth stopping for
- Exit 23 — 108 places worth stopping for
- Exit 24 — 101 places worth stopping for
- Exit 26 — 107 places worth stopping for
Where to eat along this corridor
Town by town, what is actually within a short detour of the highway.
- Bellevue — 95 places to eat
- Bothell — 44 places to eat
- Kirkland — 94 places to eat
- Renton — 67 places to eat
- Tukwila — 36 places to eat
Coverage
withby narrates 12 map cells on this corridor today.
Sal reads these as you pass them, and answers when you ask.
Start a withby drive