Welcome to Bastyr
Campus details
Recently the sun has been shining more and our deprived Seattle brains have been genuinely freaking out to be outside soaking up that Vitamin D. Which leads us to exploring new things. Which lead us to Bastyr University! You may not know about this small university northeast of Seattle, but you should! It is nestled up against Lake Washington and because it is a university that educates on holistic medicine their campus is refreshing and in touch with the nature that surrounds it.
Our recommendation is to go visit on an empty stomach, you can visit the school cafeteria (trays and all!) and get lunch. The cafeteria includes a large salad bar, hot items, baked items and packaged snacks (they also update items daily and you can see that here). The great thing about the food is that it’s all healthy and all of the dishes list out every ingredient that goes into it. Some of the food ingredients are harvested from the campus’ organic vegetable and herb garden and what isn't grown there is shown to you on a board in the cafeteria that depicts the location of the farms where all the other ingredients come from!
A bulletin board in the cafeteria tells you what farms supplied your food.
After you are nice and full head out to the grounds. They have an incredible herb garden with over 350 herbs. This is where they grow a lot of the herbs they use to make medicines on campus.
Bee Balm is used to treat colds, headaches, and nausea.
Along with the herb garden they also have a relaxing courtyard near the dining common where you can sit and have thoughtful thoughts about things. If you are running low on deep, life questions that day there is also a turtle pond for you to enjoy with over 20 turtles.. and who doesn't love turtles??
Bastyr's turtle pond
After you finish up on campus you can walk into Saint Edward Park, which borders the campus. This 316-acre park has a ton of walking trails (most under 1 mile in length) that lead you down to Lake Washington. What really sets this park apart from others in the area is the old Catholic Seminary that sits on the grounds. This stunning old building is surrounded by picnic tables and can also be rented out for events! Be sure to bring your Discover Pass if you want to visit the park (or you can purchase a day pass for $10 in the parking lot).
Welcome to Saint Edward Park!
The Catholic Seminary, which sits on the park grounds.
Seminary details.
Picnic tables line the grounds.
Saint Edward park walking trails.
