📅 Sunday, Oct. 12, 2025
🕑 2-4 p.m.
📍 South Park to Georgetown, Seattle
💰Free, but RSVPs are needed
Seattle has plenty of ways to get your thrills, but few are as unusual as gliding down the Duwamish River while learning about the city’s long-buried past — literally.
From the late 19th century until 1912, the banks of the Duwamish held Seattle’s potter’s field, the final resting place for more than 3,000 people who were poor, unclaimed or unlucky. When the river was straightened for industry, the graves were hastily exhumed, cremated en masse and ultimately lost. The story is equal parts tragic and mysterious — and now it’s told from the best vantage point possible: the water.
On the Lost Potter’s Field Paddle, hosted by the River Access Paddle Program (RAPP) and the women of the Invisible Histories podcast, you’ll kayak from South Park to Georgetown and back while hearing tales of misplaced ashes, colorful local outlaws and the darker corners of Seattle’s past. Stops include areas once central to Duwamish life and views of restoration sites, reminding paddlers that this is not just a history tour but a living river.
No kayak experience? No problem. RAPP supplies the boats, paddles and life vests; all you need is a sense of adventure, and ideally a bit of a taste for the macabre. It’s free, family-friendly (if the family is over age 12) and unlike any Seattle history lesson you’ve had before. And if this kind of thing floats your boat, so to speak, keep an eye out for other themed paddles with RAPP, including pollution cleanup efforts.
Good to know:
✍️ You’ll need to sign a waiver beforehand.
🛶 If you have your own kayak and flotation device, you can join with RSVP’ing.
👦👩 Participants must be at least 12 years old and teens must be accompanied by an adult.
📬 After RSVPing, you’ll be contacted 72 hours before the event with info on where to meet, park and what to bring.
🎟️ First come, first serve — there are only enough kayaks for 40 people.
