As the sport of pickleball continues to rise and tennis courts transition to fit those needs, here are ten places that are free to play in and around King County. We provide an overall score that takes court quality, parking, and accessibility into account.
Top 10 Free Courts
1. Game Farm Park – Overall Score 9.6: Game Farm in Auburn has everything a racquet sport player desires. With four dedicated tennis courts, Game Farm is perfect for those who want to play tennis with easily accessible courts. Not only is there space to split a tennis court into a pickleball court, but Game Farm also has four dedicated pickleball courts just a short walk away from the tennis courts.
2. Talbot Hill Park – Overall Score 8.5: Renton’s first appearance on the list is Talbot Hill Park, a newly renovated park that is packed full with courts available to the public. Talbot Hill has six total courts, with three of them lined for tennis and three bordered for pickleball.
3. Kiwanis Park – Overall Score 8.2: Renton’s second mention on this list is Kiwanis Park and similar to the two other entries, brings a lot to offer. There are just two courts, but they have been resurfaced recently.
4. Liberty Park – Overall Score 7.5: Our third shout out to Renton is Liberty Park, and their courts are excellent and recently surfaced in the last two years. There are four total courts with two lined for tennis parallel to each other and two pickleball courts off to the side.
5. Lake Boren Park – Overall Score 7.5: The furthest north courts on this list are out at Lake Boren Park in Newcastle. But this group of courts is easily accessible, and has plenty of parking.
6. Sagahalie Park – Overall Score 7.3: In Federal Way proper, there are four “courts” available to play on, but three of them have tennis nets. One just has the bones of a court of yesteryear, but the other three are playable and have courts with minimal cracks.
7. Browns Point Elementary – Overall score 7.3: A bit off the beaten path and technically in Tacoma, but Browns Point Elementary might have two of the best tennis courts in the area.
8. Five Mile Lake – Overall Score 7.2: Out in unincorporated King County lies a pair of courts right next to five mile lake. On the furthest right tennis court, there are lines for two pickleball courts.
9. Kent-Memorial Park – Overall Score 7.0: Despite being mainly seen as a baseball field, Kent-Memorial Park has a pair of excellent tennis courts.
10. Kent-Meridian – Overall Score 6.5: Pickleball players won’t like these courts (no pickleball lines) but a facility open at 11:00 am on a Thursday, with seven available courts with lights? That deserves a mention on this list.
Original reporting: Renton Reporter — read the source article.
