Entry No. 25 — the Seattle file — filed under: outdoor-weird
Gas Works Park Shadow Sundial
This 19-acre park sits on the bones of a former coal gasification plant, with the rusting towers and cracked pipework of the old works preserved right in the middle of the lawn. A grassy kite-flying mound built from building rubble rises at one edge, and embedded in its summit is a sculpted sundial of concrete, shells, bronze, and glass that uses your own shadow as the gnomon. You physically stand on the marked spot to read the time and season off your silhouette.
The story
From 1906 to 1956, the Seattle Gas Light Company ran a coal gasification plant on the north shore of Lake Union, leaving behind a 19-acre footprint of soot, heavy steel, and industrial soil. When the city turned the property into a public park, they didn't bulldoze the machinery into the lake. Instead, the corroding exhaust towers, cracked pipework, and gasification structures were left standing dead-center on the green lawn, preserved like heavy iron skeletons.
At the edge of the lawn sits a steep grassy mound known as Kite Hill, which wasn't shaped by nature at all—it was built directly out of piled building rubble cleared from the site. Embedded into the mound's summit is a large analemmatic sundial installed in 1978, crafted from poured concrete, inlaid shells, bronze, and colored glass.
Standard sundials use an angled metal blade to slice a shadow across the hour lines, but this art piece leaves the center completely empty. To make it work, you have to step into the dial yourself and stand on the marker corresponding to the current month. Your own silhouette becomes the gnomon, throwing your shadow across the bronze hour points to tell the time against the backdrop of Lake Union.
What it's like
Head up to Wallingford and climb the paved track straight to the top of the rubble hill. The giant industrial gas towers below are fenced off to keep people from climbing the rusting frames, but the rest of the park and the hill itself are totally open. For the sundial to actually function, you need direct sunlight; line your feet up on the current month's scale embedded in the concrete, look back, and read your own shadow. It gets breezy on the summit, making it a hotspot for local kite flyers, and evening crowds gather along the slope to watch the downtown skyline light up across the water.
The move: Climb the mound at golden hour, take turns being the sundial's hand, then sprawl on the grass with takeout as the downtown skyline lights up across Lake Union.
📍 Before you go Free and open daily; the industrial structures are fenced off but the towers and sundial mound are fully accessible. Best on a sunny day so the shadow-sundial actually works.
- 📍 Wallingford, Seattle
- 💸 Free
- ⚡ Up for anything
- 🌗 Outdoors
Where: 2101 N Northlake Way, Seattle, WA 98103
Hours: Added 2026-06-24 — confirm current hours before you go.
⚠ Seasonal or scheduled — always check before you go.
Pair it with
- The Fremont Troll — Pair the industrial ruins of Kite Hill with another massive concrete installation lurking under the Aurora Bridge less than a mile west.
- Statue of Lenin — Trade the preserved capitalist gas plant ruins for a 16-foot bronze Bolshevik standing on a nearby Fremont street corner.
- Add-a-Ball Amusements — After using your body as a sundial on top of a rubble hill, descend into a windowless basement arcade in Fremont for pinball.
Good to know
Where is the shadow sundial located inside the park?
It is embedded at the very top of Kite Hill, the high grassy mound on the western side of Gas Works Park at 2101 N Northlake Way.
How do you read the time on the sundial?
It is an analemmatic dial. You stand directly on the marked month and date scale in the center of the concrete pad, and your own body casts the shadow onto the surrounding hour markers.
Can you climb inside the industrial towers?
No, the original 1906–1956 gasification towers and piping structures are behind safety fencing, though you can walk right up to the perimeter.
Is there an admission fee or set hours?
The park is free and open daily to the public, though you should check Seattle Parks department updates for seasonal park closing times.
Plan a visit & invite your people →
Further reading: Wikipedia · seattletimes.com · seattle.gov · Official site
last checked: 2026-06-24