Favorite Onewheel Rides in Renton, Tukwila, Seattle

What is a Onewheel?

I was curious about a skateboard-like vehicle with one wheel that I saw ocassionally in the wild.

It turned out to be a Onewheel.

I bought mine in May 2021 and ride it daily.

Learning to Ride

As my skills improve I'm able to take on more terrains:

• For first couple of weeks, big open empty parking lots were great. This is really the only place I crashed the Onewheel and had to jump off as I was first getting used to it. This is when most of the scratches and curb collisions occurred. Luckily the Onewheel is built like a tank.

• I then took on bigger areas with paved trails, sidewalks and was able to handle the Onewheel with much more more precision for tighter maneuvering. Starting and stopping was more more natural too.

• This evolved to feeling more comfortable with rougher terrain, such as tree roots pushing up sidewalk, uneven pavement, the bumpy transition from pavement-to-sidewalks, and generally faster rides (where the speed amplifies rough patches). Handling busier roads and parks.

Favorite Rides in Renton, Tukwila, Seattle

These screenshots are recorded via the Onewheel app, which traces routes, measures achievements, gives you stats about the board and battery, and lets you make adjustments.

Cedar River Trail / Henry Moses Aquatic Center (Renton, WA)

Cedar River Trail has a nice mix of trails and scenery.

There are three places I like to park my car and ride along the Cedar River.

1. Ron Regis Park -- a good parking spot for heading either direction on trail. I tend to prefer heading west toward Renton (runs by Maplewood Golf Course, a cool 180 curve that crosses under the road, and lots of tree cover for a scenic and shaded ride a couple of miles up the trail) though it's a bit more wide open and scenic/sunny toward Maple Valley. Plus when your battery runs low, you can tool around Ron Regis park and practice for your last 10% of juice.

2. Riverview Park -- a small parking lot and easy access to the trail.

3. Cedar River Park (near Henry Moses Aquatic Center) -- I like tooling around the various parking lot sections and sidewalk. Often I end up here as a midway point after starting further east on the trail, say from Ron Regis Park or Riverview Park.

I had also explored visiting the official rollerskate "Liberty Park" in Renton (near the downtown Renton Library), though had mixed results. It was fun to try out since it was off hours, but I don't think I'll spend much time there - overall it's very congested and has limited paths for Onewheeling.

I don't recommend Cedar River Trail for first-time riders due to congestion and some rough pavement sections.

Jefferson Park (Seattle, WA)

This is one of my favorite spots. The park has a lot of paved trail, and while often busy with people, the trails are wide, and there are often open sections. There is even a loop around the outside of the park, near the community gardens. The views are amazing too.

I don't recommend for first-time riders due to congestion, though the paths are all very smooth.

Greenwood Memorial Park / Mt. Olivet Cemetary (Renton, WA)

These are nice quiet spots to ride.

I had discovered this cemetary while biking. It's a nice quiet spot to take a rest, and also explore the grounds. The Jimi Hendrix Memorial site is there as well.

Great for beginner riders after they've mastered a quiet and open parking lot.

I also rode down the street at the Mt. Olivet Cemetary. Another nice quiet and peaceful spot. It's high elevation offers a great view of the surrounding area toward the Lake.

Sunset Neighborhood Park (behind Renton Highlands Library) (Renton, WA)

This is a fun small park.

It has a nice crisscrossing of paved trails, as well as roads/sidewalks outside the park. You'll need to keep it slow around the kids climbing toys (though that's a find spot to practice precision riding), but then can open it up a bit on the open field side, or on the road that circles the park.

I don't recommend for first-time riders.

Fort Dent / Greenriver Trail / Interurban Trail (Tukwila, WA)

Fort Dent is nice place to ride off-hours, but can be very busy on game days.

Fort Dent is a great place to park, though be aware that on busy weekends, you have to pay and it's pretty congested. I like going here on off hours. You can also park at other places along the trails leaving Fort Dent, and Onewheel your way into the park.

You can practice in the parking lot, then jump on the Green River Trail in either direction.

More moderate riding is heading north on the Green River Tail (make the right turn to the Lake to Sound trail -- if you end up going over a train trussle then you just missed the turn. Going over the train trussle is a more advanced ride due to rougher pavement).

More moderate to advanced riding heading south due to more congestion, obstacles, and rough payment. You ride past the Tukwila Fun Center and eventually can pick up the Interurban Trail or continue on Green River Trail.

The Tukwila Sounder Station / Amtrak Station has a nice big parking lot to practice, particuarly during off hours.

I don't recommend these for first-time riders.

Lake Washington Blvd / Seward Park (Seattle, WA)

This is a bit of a moderate course. Riding along Lake Washington Blvd (southbound toward Seward Park) had a lot of bumps and narrow paths. Seward Park also gets busy, and it easy to get blocked by larger groups walking through.

Seattle Waterfront / Olympic Sculpture Park (Seattle, WA)

This is worth the trek to Seattle. This is a more moderate or advanced route, due to congestion. It has a separate bicycle trail which nicely separates you from pedestrians.

Riding around your own hood

Otherwise, I'm often tooling around various suburban neighborhoods, schools and nearby parks, trying to avoid busy and congested roads.

Do paved bicycle trails make for good Onewheel riding?

Generally yes, and some of my favorite Onewheeling areas overlap with favorite biking areas.

On the Onewheel, I prefer curves and precision riding along with bursts up to 17 mph on straight sections, where many bike trails tend to be long and straight.

While you can find this scenario on bike trails, it's safer and more pleasant to have less pedestrian/bike/auto traffic to contend with.