Hardy Northwesterners are fond of paraphrasing a Nordic expression: There is no such thing as bad weather, just bad clothing. Bogus, we say. The Pacific Northwest has plenty of bad weather. An atmospheric river drenches the ski hill. Heavy wet snow bogs down the road to your favorite winter hiking trailhead. An ice or windstorm means forget about bundling up for even a chilly bike ride.
One luxury of Western Washington living is the ability to cherry-pick the best days to play outside. For the days the weather doesn’t cooperate, another perk of life in Greater Seattle is the plethora of indoor recreation that allows you to keep moving regardless of how cold, dark and wet it is outside.
Whatever your fancy — climbing, lifting, stretching, dancing, boxing, kicking, swinging or swimming — there are places to partake throughout the Seattle area. Here is a list, by no means exhaustive, to get you started.
Click on the activities below to jump to that section.
Public options | Climbing | Swimming | Tennis, pickleball and golf | Ice sports | Gyms | Boxing and martial arts | Yoga, barre and Pilates | Dance | For the kids
Public options
While there are specialized studios and gyms for every fitness discipline imaginable around Seattle, the most cost-effective way to get moving indoors is often a municipal recreation center. For basics like basketball, pickleball and table tennis, check out the schedule at cities with several community centers like Seattle and Bellevue, or your hometown, by visiting your local parks department website. Parks departments produce robust brochures covering seasonal recreational (and educational) offerings at local community centers; you’ll find Seattle’s winter 2023 schedule at st.news/city-rec. Kids and adults can play volleyball on Capitol Hill at Miller Community Center, dodgeball at Green Lake, badminton in the Chinatown International District and basketball from Rainier Beach to Loyal Heights. Browse these brochures and you’ll find intriguing options throughout the area, like futsal in Ballard, clogging in Shoreline or belly-dancing in Redmond.
Climbing
Winter is almost always too wet for climbing crags in the Cascades, which makes indoor gyms a prime place to stay in climbing shape or to try some holds for the first time in a safe, controlled setting.
There are two kinds of indoor climbing: bouldering and top rope. Bouldering means climbing solo without a rope on routes that are relatively low to the ground, such that falling onto a cushioned crash pad involves minimal risk of injury (though of course there is some risk of injury in any physical activity). Top roping entails climbing with a rope and harness up higher routes, while your belay partner, standing on the ground, can stop the rope if you fall and can also lower you safely down after your climb.
Seattle Bouldering Project (seattleboulderingproject.com) is a longtime local favorite in Rainier Valley and Fremont, with a University District outpost on the way (and branches spreading across the country). Day passes are $20 for adults, $18 for young adults (14-23) and $13 for youth 13 and under. Rental shoes are $4 for the day and free for first-time guests.
Itching to get higher than the 13- to 15-feet bouldering walls? Hit the crag at Edgeworks (edgeworksclimbing.com; locations in Ballard, Bellevue and Tacoma) for $22 per day ($18 for students) and rent climbing shoes, a harness and a belay device for $12. While first-time bouldering doesn’t require instruction, you will need to take an intro course ($50) if you haven’t top roped before.
Swimming
We are many months from lake season for the average swimmer, though hundreds participated at the Alki Beach polar bear plunge on New Year’s Day. Hit the pool! For lap swimming, there are indoor pools sprinkled throughout the region, from recently reopened Evans Pool at Green Lake (st.news/Evans) to the Bellevue Aquatic Center (st.news/Bellevue-aquatic) and the Evergreen Aquatic Center in White Center (st.news/Evergreen-aquatic), which is scheduled to reopen from renovation Jan. 8.
Want something beyond monotonous freestyle strokes? A giant slide, lazy river, hot tub and sauna make the Rainier Beach Pool (st.news/RBP) the city’s indoor aquatic crown jewel. The Lynnwood Recreation Center (st.news/Lynnwood-aquatic; reopening from annual maintenance Jan. 9) also has those indoor waterpark features, plus a water play area with tipping buckets and a family hot tub. For the closest option to a Hawaiian vacation in Greater Seattle, nothing beats the North Shore Lagoon Swimming Pool at McMenamins Anderson School in Bothell (mcmenamins.com/anderson-school), where the saltwater is kept at a toasty 88-90 degrees.
Tennis, pickleball and golf
Whether you swing a racket or a golf club, there are still ways to practice — or pick up — your sport of choice. Smack a ball out of the elements on one of the 10 indoor courts at the public Amy Yee Tennis Center (st.news/Yee) in Judkins Park (named for beloved Seattle tennis star Amy Yee) or the six winter indoor tennis courts at the Robinswood Tennis Center in Bellevue (st.news/RTC). Devotees of Washington’s newly christened state sport, meanwhile, can find a list of indoor pickleball courts at seattlemetropickleball.com
Capitol Hill is home to the only Pacific Northwest location of the national indoor links purveyor Five Iron Golf (fiveirongolf.com), which counts golf fanatic and entrepreneur Macklemore as a co-owner. This is no mere putt-putt — Flatstick Pub (flatstickpub.com), with locations in Pioneer Square, South Lake Union and Kirkland, has you covered for miniature golf — but rather a high-tech golf simulator where you can whittle away your handicap with on-site golf pros, then relax at the bar. One-hour simulator rentals start at $30, while a 30-minute lesson costs $75. Another national indoor golf chain has also landed in the area: An hour in the simulator at Topgolf (topgolf.com) in Renton runs $42-$70.
Ice sports
Whether or not you have your eyes set on cracking the Kraken roster, getting on the ice is a fun way to stay active. If you’re new to skating, visit st.news/KCI or learntoskateusa.com/findaskatingprogram to find a Learn to Skate program. If you can skate already, public skates are hosted regularly at Kraken Community Iceplex and beyond. See krakencommunityiceplex.com/public-skating for more, and read a Times refresher at st.news/ice-skate.
If you graduate beyond Learn to Skate, there is a thriving rec hockey scene in Greater Seattle. While there are rinks across Greater Seattle, the Kraken Community Iceplex at Northgate will be your home base in Seattle proper.
Head to krakencommunityiceplex.com/hockey for info on getting into a beginner program, finding drop-in play opportunities, skills camps, and even free weekends, the next of which will be a kids clinic held at the rink Saturday, Feb. 25, as part of USA Hockey’s annual Hockey Week Across America event.
In-house hockey leagues — like the Kraken Hockey League (serving adults) and Kraken Youth Hockey Association (serving kids) — offer competitive organized hockey for kids and adults who have gone through Learn to Play hockey development programs. Those leagues typically run fall to spring, with fewer, shorter summer seasons, and are in play for the winter.
And at Seattle’s Granite Curling Club, beginners can book lessons and learn to glide the stone across the ice with finesse. A 90-minute lessons costs $35 for adults and $20 for kids. Head to curlingseattle.org for more info.
Gyms
There are dozens of gyms throughout the area, but only Rival Fitness on Capitol Hill (rivalfitnessseattle.com) can claim to have hosted Mayor Bruce Harrell for bench presses on a neighborhood listening tour. It’s $20 for a day pass, $95 monthly for full gym access and $165 for unlimited group classes. Uphill on Pine Street, Rain City Fit Barbell Club (raincityfit.com) is a powerlifting home for the Seattle queer community ($12 for a day pass, $99 for monthly membership).
Appreciate your self-contained home gym but crave the motivation and camaraderie of a group workout with a trainer? Industrious (workhardlivefit.com; locations in Lynnwood and South Lake Union) invented the “halo” system where every piece of equipment needed for each 50-minute workout (soundtracked by an in-house DJ) is contained in a 13-by-13-foot space.
For a very different atmosphere from boutique gyms and pumping music, step into the ornate downtown lobby of the private Washington Athletic Club (wac.net). Approaching its centennial, this pillar of Seattle’s business and political upper crust has everything — gym, pool, spa, physical therapy, even a hotel and barbershop. Membership by referral.
Boxing and martial arts
Throwing a punch or landing a kick with a sparring partner are great ways to blow off steam, with options across the Seattle area. The Central District boasts two boxing gyms. Female coaches lead the way at Arcaro Boxing (arcaroboxing.com), which turns 10 this month. Monthly memberships cost $130-$160. Cappy’s Boxing Gym (cappysgym.com) has been in the neighborhood since 1999 and periodically organizes amateur boxing matches, and offers drop-in passes for $25 and monthly unlimited access for $150.
Inspired by 2021’s cult, made-in-Seattle kung fu comedy “The Paper Tigers?” Look no further than the film’s Chinatown International District setting, where the Seattle Kung Fu Club (seattlekungfuclub.com) has been going strong since 1963. For another flavor of deeply rooted martial arts, follow the sound of Brazilian berimbau to Rainier Valley’s Seattle Capoeira Center (seattlecapoeiracenter.com).
Yoga, barre and Pilates
Seattle’s yoga scene has come a long way since the first studio was established on Queen Anne in 1969. For a more traditional style, seek out 8 Limbs (8limbsyoga.com; locations on Phinney Ridge and in Wedgwood). Drop-ins are $25 and unlimited classes are $125 per month. One of the newest kids on the block is Mother Yoga (motheryogaseattle.com), whose logo now brightens up an old Chinatown ID shop window. Drop-in only, sliding scale $10-$25.
Open your glands in the heated studio at The SweatBox on Capitol Hill (sweatboxyoga.com), drop-in $28. Try the challenging Mysore style at Acme Yoga Project (acmeyogaproject.com), also on Capitol Hill, on Monday through Saturday mornings, drop-in $20. Or go upside down in an aerial yoga class at Flight Room (flightroomseattle.com; locations in Ballard, Green Lake and Central District), which offers five classes for $159.
Whether ballet class conjures good or bad memories, the dancer’s barre has become the centerpiece of fitness classes that tone with body-weight lifting. Portland-founded barre3 (barre3.com) has nine Seattle-area locations while Pure Barre (purebarre.com) has 12 locations in Western Washington. The Bar Method (barmethod.com) has just one on Phinney Ridge.
Looking to strengthen your core via Pilates? Consider Kinesia Pilates Studio in Pioneer Square (kinesiapilates.com), Studio 45 in University Village and Fremont (studio45seattle.com), or Pilates on 10th in Montlake (pilateson10th.com).
Dance
Shaking a tail feather shouldn’t be reserved for that New Year’s Eve bash you’re still recovering from.
Seattle is home to a variety of dance schools and studios. The grande dame is Century Ballroom (centuryballroom.com), a glorious space on Capitol Hill where you can learn to waltz, swing, salsa, fox trot and more. Farther up the hill, Dance Underground (dance-underground.com) boasts the city’s longest-running Saturday night tango social dance.
For something no partner required, there’s break dancing. The Emerald City’s world champion break dance crew Massive Monkees opened a new home in November for their studio The Beacon in Rainier Valley (massivemonkees.com), where you can learn the fundamentals of breaking.
Down in Sodo, Raven Studio (ravenstudiosseattle.com) set up shop in a century-old warehouse to build out a custom space for pole dancing, lyra and silk hammock.
For the kids
You can take kids to the pool, and there are even dedicated kid-friendly climbing walls at Seattle Bouldering Project, but sometimes little ones deserve to be the stars of the show.
Tot gyms abound at Seattle-area community centers, though few (if any) boast indoor bouncy houses like the Inflatabale FunZone at Arena Sports (arenasports.net; locations in Magnuson Park, Mill Creek, Redmond and Sodo). Other indoor playground options include the three-story playground at PlayDate SEA in South Lake Union (playdatesea.com; $14 per child per hour, $18 for all-day access), the varied play structures in the Seattle Center Armory at the Seattle Children’s Museum (seattlechildrensmuseum.org; $13 for children and adults), and the galactic-themed Outer Space Seattle near Alki Beach (outerspaceseattle.com; kids $14).