Star Lake is located in southern

King County, Washington King County is located in the U.S. state of Washington. The population was 2,269,675 in the 2020 census, making it the most populous county in Washington, and the 13th-most populous in the United States. The county seat is Seattle, also the st ...

in the Lakeland North

census-designated place A census-designated place (CDP) is a concentration of population defined by the United States Census Bureau for statistical purposes only. CDPs have been used in each decennial census since 1980 as the counterparts of incorporated places, such ...

. It is one of two large lakes in Lakeland North, alongside Lake Dolloff. Interstate 5 runs just to the west of the lake.

History

In the 1850s, Military Road was built to link Fort Steilacoom with Fort Bellingham. The road passes by many lakes, which served as army campgrounds. This includes three lakes in South King County: Angle Lake, Star Lake, and

Fivemile Lake Fivemile Lake is located in southern King County, Washington in the Lakeland South census-designated place. It has a popular park on its eastern bank. Fivemile Lake is one of several lakes in Lakeland South, including Lake Killarney, Lake Genev ...

. The road was completed in 1860. In 1892, the Star Lake Post Office opened near the lake. The Star Lake School opened in 1898, and was subsequently rebuilt in 1909 and 1910. The old school building still exists near the lake. The modern Star Lake Elementary School is also located near the lake, and is run by

Federal Way Public Schools Federal Way Public Schools is a school district in King County, Washington covering all of Federal Way and portions of Kent, Des Moines, Auburn, and unincorporated census-designated places Lakeland North and Lakeland South, encompassing . Ther ...

Description

The lake is

oligotrophic An oligotroph is an organism that can live in an environment that offers very low levels of nutrients. They may be contrasted with copiotrophs, which prefer nutritionally rich environments. Oligotrophs are characterized by slow growth, low rates of ...

, and enjoys excellent water quality. It has been treated for Eurasian milfoil in the past, a noxious weed. Star Lake is stocked with

rainbow trout The rainbow trout (''Oncorhynchus mykiss'') is a species of trout native to cold-water tributaries of the Pacific Ocean in Asia and North America. The steelhead (sometimes called "steelhead trout") is an anadromous (sea-run) form of the coasta ...

, and is also home to

largemouth bass The largemouth bass (''Micropterus salmoides'') is a carnivorous freshwater gamefish in the Centrarchidae ( sunfish) family, a species of black bass native to the eastern and central United States, southeastern Canada and northern Mexico, but ...

. However, the lake is mostly surrounded by private homes and the only public access is a boat ramp at the end of 37th Avenue South. Star Lake is a future

Link light rail Link light rail is a light rail rapid transit system serving the Seattle metropolitan area in the U.S. state of Washington. It is managed by Sound Transit in partnership with local transit providers, and consists of two non-connected lines: t ...

station on the Federal Way Link Extension. The station is located to the northwest of the lake, across Interstate 5. The name was chosen in 2022, and the station was scheduled to open along with the rest of the Federal Way Extension in 2024. However, soil issues from building a bridge over a

wetland A wetland is a distinct ecosystem that is flooded or saturated by water, either permanently (for years or decades) or seasonally (for weeks or months). Flooding results in oxygen-free (anoxic) processes prevailing, especially in the soils. The ...

pushed the opening to 2026.

References

{{reflist Lakes of King County, Washington Lakes of Washington (state)