[1][better source needed] Carkeek Park features diverse habitats—saltwater, riparian, wetland, upland forest, and meadow—that support a wide range of wildlife.

Visitors can explore a six-mile trail network leading to a beach, playground, and a salmon imprinting pond, with scenic views of the Olympic Mountains and Puget Sound.

[3] The new site, also called Carkeek Park, is situated on Puget Sound at the mouth of a creek known in Lushootseed as kʷaatəb, meaning "place where people are sent.

[6] The park served a variety of purposes in the 20th century: it hosted outdoor performances, provided feed for zoo animals, and even briefly became an Army camp during World War II.

[5] Meanwhile, a sewage treatment plant that operated for years was eventually replaced by a Combined sewer overflow and pump station near the beach constructed by the Municipality of Metropolitan Seattle.

Today, the park features a mature maple-alder forest in a successional stage, with evergreens like Western red cedar and Douglas fir slowly reclaiming their dominance.

[13] The Carkeek Park playground, designed to emulate the Pipers Creek watershed, features a 19-foot purple salmon slide, tiny caves, and a stream.

[17] The center includes rooftop rainwater harvesting, energy-efficient insulation, and solar panels via Seattle City Light’s Green Power program.

In 1987, chum salmon returned to Pipers Creek after a 50-year absence, following restoration efforts launched in 1979 by the Carkeek Watershed Community Action Project.

[20][21] In autumn 2023, beavers took up residence on the creek near its outlet into Puget Sound, building a dam, altering the environment, and complicating the maintenance of the salmon run.