Lake Washington
Matthews Beach
Public city park beach
King County's routine beach testing has ended for the season; check posted notices
Yes. Matthews Beach is a public Seattle swimming beach on Lake Washington. Seattle lists the Summer 2026 lifeguarded-beach season as complete and next summer's dates as to be announced; the park itself is open 6:00 a.m.–10:00 p.m.
Plan the access
- Access status
- Seattle Parks lists a public swimming beach
- Who can use it
- Public city park beach
- Manager
- Seattle Parks and Recreation
- Published hours
- Park open 6:00 a.m.–10:00 p.m.; Seattle lists the Summer 2026 lifeguard season as complete, with 2027 dates to be announced
- Published fees
- No fee stated on the park page; Seattle describes swimming at its lifeguarded beaches as free
- Reservation
- No ordinary beach reservation requirement stated
- Lifeguards
- Seasonal only; Seattle lists the Summer 2026 season as complete and 2027 dates as TBA (spring 2027). No current lifeguard schedule is posted
- Parking
- Not stated on the park page when checked
- Water conditions
- King County's routine beach testing has ended for the season; check posted notices
Confirm before leaving
Open official manager page ↗Check condition source ↗Official pages and signs override this guide.
Beach season is not the same as park hours
Seattle publishes 6:00 a.m.–10:00 p.m. park hours separately from the summer lifeguard season, which its swimming-beaches page lists as complete for 2026. The park page still carries an old 2017 lifeguard schedule, which this guide ignores. A beach can be physically accessible outside a lifeguard shift; do not treat that as supervised swimming.
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Access facts last checked against the linked manager on 2026-10-25. This date is not a water sample or a promise of present conditions.