With picturesque views of Bellevue directly across the lake and Mount Rainier in the distance, it is primarily used for picnicking, sunbathing, and swimming.

The upper level between the parking lot and the original seawall is grass covered and has several large trees that provide shade.

The same report also honored the service of retired commissioner Blaine, “father of the Seattle Park System,” who had served from 1902 to 1908.

[15] The plat drawing depicts a shoreline “esplanade” along a seawall, located at the end of a wide turnaround that formed an open space loop in the middle.

Additional features at that time evidently included a boat facility, an oval shaped lagoon with narrow passage to the lake, a small rustic shelter, and paths, lawn, and landscaping.

[22] The first recorded (though unlikely the actual first) case of clothing optional use was when famed architect and Denny-Blaine neighbor[23] Ellsworth Storey was arrested at Whitman Place for skinny dipping.

"[4] On May 1st, 1934, O. H. Lindstedt, manager of sporting goods at University Book Store, sent a letter to the Seattle Park Board President requesting they stop requiring men to wear body bathing suits at public beaches.

Lindstedt noted that men were buying trunks, but avoiding lifeguarded beaches and instead swimming in places that are dangerous or at least unprotected.

[29] Clothing optional use at Denny Blaine Park became more diverse across gender and sexual orientation starting in the mid-2010s and has continued to grow in popularity, including a substantial increase by Seattle's transgender community, especially in the years following the COVID lockdown.

In 1988, in an article titled “The Cops and The Tops,” the Seattle Weekly reported that police were citing nude sunbathers at Denny-Blaine beach for “lewd conduct” for the second year in a row.

“For many women, it’s a matter of pride, and of gender politics, so they have continued to swim shirtless despite the tickets and the police patrols,” the article says.

[37] In the following months, Sloan met with a variety of City of Seattle officials to discuss building a playground at the park, ostensibly to curb nudity at the beach.

[40] As anticipated by the commissioners, the proposed play area generated a strong outcry from the LGBTQIA+ community and others who value continued clothing-optional use at Denny Blaine Park.

[26][41][42][43] The public response meeting held in the auditorium of the Martin Luther King FAME Community Center on December 6, 2023 was attended by an overflow crowd of about 400 people who were nearly unanimous in their opposition to the proposal.

The announcement indicated they will evaluate other locations for a play area and will meet with leaders in the LGBTQIA+ community to “better understand the importance of this beach to the community and the hopes for future uses.”[44] On December 9, 2023, the day following the announcement that the project would not proceed, Mayor Harrell met with the would-be donor Stuart Sloan at University Village, the mall Sloan owns.

[38] A July 2024 report by KUOW-FM reviewed March 2023 text messages between Mayor Harrell and donor Sloan.

"[45] The text messages also revealed ongoing collaboration between Sloan and Harrell, which contradicted the earlier claim that the mayor had no knowledge about the identity of the donor.