Qualla: Lake Sammamish

Lake Sammamish: Introduction

Thu, 22 Jan 2026 00:00:00 GMT

Photo credit Cybersister27, CC BY-SA 3.0. From the air, Lake Sammamish appears as a long blue finger pointing north through the green suburbs east of Seattle. This glacial lake stretches seven miles from Issaquah to Redmond, its waters draining through the Sammamish River to Lake Washington and ultimately Puget Sound. The Sammamish people who gave it their name are largely gone now, but their lake remains, caught between preservation and development in one of America's fastest-growing metropolitan areas.

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Image: Cybersister27 | CC BY-SA 3.0

Lake Sammamish: Waters Under Pressure

Thu, 22 Jan 2026 00:00:00 GMT

Photo credit Curt Smith from Bellevue, WA, USA, CC BY 2.0. The Lake Sammamish watershed receives nearly twice the rainfall of downtown Seattle, precipitation that once filtered through old-growth forest before reaching the lake. Today, that runoff courses over parking lots and lawns, carrying sediment and pollutants that cloud the waters...

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Image: Curt Smith from Bellevue, WA, USA | CC BY 2.0

Lake Sammamish: The Return of the Beaver

Thu, 22 Jan 2026 00:00:00 GMT

Photo credit Curt Smith from Bellevue, WA, USA, CC BY 2.0. In recent years, North American beavers have returned to Lake Sammamish, building dams on tributary creeks and creating the ponds that once sustained this watershed. City officials worry about flooding and blocked salmon runs, calling for the animals' relocation. Yet research fro...

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Image: Curt Smith from Bellevue, WA, USA | CC BY 2.0

Lake Sammamish: Recreation and Memory

Thu, 22 Jan 2026 00:00:00 GMT

Photo credit Kayamon (talk), CC BY-SA 3.0. Marymoor Park anchors the lake's northern shore, while Lake Sammamish State Park occupies the south. On summer weekends, the lake fills with waterskiers, wakeboarders, and fishing boats pursuing bass, trout, and the occasional salmon. But the state park carries darker memories. O...

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Image: Kayamon (talk) | CC BY-SA 3.0