Arlington, WA Outdoor Activities

At Wrench Bicycle Workshop, mechanical experts Buck and Greg help maintain patrons' eco-friendly commuting machines with a comprehensive list of bicycle services. The specialists call upon nearly 30 years of combined experience as they adjust brakes, true wheels, and clean drivetrain systems. The duo services, rebuilds, and repairs all types of cycles. They also host a loaner program, which equips riders with Scott Sub 30 bikes while their personal steeds are resting up and conspiring against neighborhood birds with Ben, the shop’s welcoming dog.

Since 1989, Play It Again Sports has been keeping sports green, recycling gently used athletic equipment into new-to-you gear. Products from brands such as Nike, Adidas, and Wilson make up each store's enormous selection of new and recycled gear, which is replenished daily with goods for a wide selection of sports that range from baseball and football to snowboarding, skiing, and ice skating. Treadmills and exercise bikes equip bodies with muscular suits of armor, and pintsize and adolescent equipment arms youngsters with protective padding until they eat enough bologna to grow muscles of their own. Knowledgeable staffers man each location, ready to answer questions, arrange gear deliveries or pickups, and even sharpen skates or wax snowboards. To ensure their stock remains robust, they also encourage athletes to collect their lightly used gear—including bicycles—and bring it into a local store to either sell or trade.

For more than 15 years, the company’s Seattle outpost has fused the best aspects of a family-owned business and a national franchise. The friendly staffers can pinpoint the best gear for hitting nearby ski slopes, but they're also able to tap into a nationwide stock of new and gently used sporting goods.

Since the 1950s, the Seattle University Athletics program has been all over the collegiate athletic landscape, leaving their post as a vaunted member of the NCAA Div. I for the NAIA in the 1970s, where they stayed until the fall of 2002, when they entered the NCAA Div. II. Though the school’s history chronicles periods of turbulence, it also encompasses a laundry list of indelible athletes; basketball Hall of Fame inductee Elgin Baylor led the Redhawks to an NCAA Championship game in 1958, and tennis star Tom Gorman was twice selected as an NCAA All-American, paving the way to a pro career in which he attained a top-10 worldwide ranking. In its relatively brief time in the NCAA Div. II, the Redhawks have won two NCAA titles in men’s swimming and one men’s soccer championship, for which the team was awarded rights to the Seattle Space Needle.

Traxx Indoor Raceway measures out adrenaline in seconds. It takes a go-kart just 23 seconds to careen around the indoor 1/5-mile track once, and 45 seconds for it to crest the 1/4-mile outdoor track's hill and swoop around its smooth turns back to the starting line. Drivers can reach speeds of 35 miles per hour in the SODI GT2 gas-powered karts, so the track provides helmets, jumpsuits, and notes from their mother to keep the racers safe. All contests last 20 laps or up to 15 minutes, except for the Traxx 100, a monthly marathon when 10 drivers rumble around the outdoor track 50 times.

Although drivers on the main track must be at least 14 years old, the team is committed to spreading the excitement around. Kids aged 3–10 gear up and hop into electric cars, zipping around their own four-turn track under the watchful eyes of attendants. Among other carnivalesque distractions, the colorful facility boasts an arcade and a 24-foot climbing wall to thrill jaded teenage thumbs, as well as a checker-themed banquet hall that seats up to 150 people for parties and team-building events.

In 1987, indoor climbing was as unpopular in the Seattle area as breeding labradoodles. But Vertical World––a pioneer indoor climbing gym––introduced the city to the up-and-coming sport of rock climbing in a controlled environment. Since its inception, the gym has expanded to three other locations in Everett, Tacoma, and Redmond, the latter hosting eastside climbers for more than 20 years.

A team of experienced route creators challenges climbers with more than 200 bouldering, lead, or top-rope routes in a wide variety of difficulty levels. The gym hosts competitive youth teams that have gone on to national or world tournaments. The gym's staff of climbers and guides also leads outdoor excursions that build confidence and teach novices how to identify a rock wall in the wild.

The Seattle Mariners have represented Washington since 1977. And since 1999, the team has dazzled hometown crowds under the lights at Safeco Field. The park boasts an elaborate scoreboard system that features an old-fashioned, hand-operated left-field scoreboard. A convertible rooftop covers the ballpark without closing it off, preserving an open-air environment that allows fans to bask in fresh spring breezes. Fans cheer on the Mariners amid the family-friendly surroundings as the Mariner Moose uses elaborate hand signals and oversize cue cards to lead his baseball platoon in choreographed home run dance numbers and sub-arctic migrations.