Rock Creek Park & DCs Versteckter Natürlicher Rückzugsort
Rock Creek Park (the 1,754-acre (710-hectare) national park within the boundaries of the District of Columbia, established 1890 — the third-oldest national park in the United States (after Yellowstone (1872) and Mackinac Island (1875))), and one of the largest urban parks in the United States: Rock Creek Park (the heavily forested park following the Rock Creek valley from the Maryland border in the north through the Columbia Heights and Adams Morgan neighbourhoods to the Potomac River in the south) is the 'Central Park' of Washington DC — the primary urban green space for the city's residents.
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Rock Creek Park — The 2,800-Acre Forest in the City
Rock Creek Park (the 2,800-acre national park running through the middle of Washington DC, from the National Mall area north to the Maryland border, the largest urban national park in the United States, free, accessible from multiple points along Rock Creek Parkway) is the most significant urban forest in any US capital city — the Beach Drive (the primary parkway, closed to cars on weekends and holidays north of Military Road, becoming a cycling and running corridor used by 100,000+ per week), the Carter Barron Amphitheatre (the 4,200-seat outdoor concert venue inside the park, summer concerts free through the National Park Service program), and the Rock Creek Nature Center and Planetarium (5200 Glover Road, free, Tuesday–Sunday 9am–5pm, the planetarium shows free on Saturday and Sunday at 1pm) are the principal facilities.
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National Zoo — The Free Smithsonian Zoo and the Giant Pandas
Smithsonian's National Zoological Park (3001 Connecticut Avenue NW, within Rock Creek Park, free admission, grounds open daily 8am–6pm, animal buildings 9am–4pm, accessible by Metro Red Line Cleveland Park or Woodley Park) is one of 3 free major zoos in the world — the giant panda program (the pandas on loan from China, the panda diplomacy loan dating to 1972 when China gave Hsing-Hsing and Ling-Ling to the US as a gift following Nixon's China visit) and the great ape house (the orangutan O-line — the aerial cable system allowing the orangutans to travel between the great ape house and the Think Tank building, an aerial crossing above visitor pathways) are the signature experiences; the 1.4km main valley trail from Connecticut Avenue to Rock Creek Park is the zoo's backbone.
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C&O Canal Historic Towpath — Walking to the Chesapeake
The Chesapeake & Ohio Canal National Historical Park (the 184.5-mile canal towpath from Georgetown DC to Cumberland Maryland, following the Potomac River through the Appalachian foothills, free, accessible at the Georgetown end via the Thomas Jefferson Street NW entrance) is the longest continuous linear historic park in the United States — the Georgetown to Great Falls section (14.4 miles each way, the most popular, the Great Falls of the Potomac at the 14.4-mile point where the river drops 20m over a series of falls, accessible by bicycle or on foot) and the mule-drawn boat rides from Georgetown (summer, ticketed) are the principal experiences.
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Georgetown Waterfront Park and the Potomac
Georgetown Waterfront Park (the 10-acre park on the Potomac River at the foot of M Street Georgetown, open year-round, the terminus of the Capital Crescent Trail — the 11-mile paved cycling and running trail to Silver Spring Maryland) is the best waterfront green space in central Washington DC — the Georgetown waterfront (Key Bridge to the east) offers views south across the Potomac to the Virginia shore and the Rosslyn skyline; the paddleboarding and kayak rentals (Key Bridge Boathouse, under Key Bridge at the park, ¥25/hour kayak, April–October) are the primary recreational use.
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Theodore Roosevelt Island — The Living Memorial in the River
Theodore Roosevelt Island (the 88.5-acre wooded island in the Potomac River between Georgetown and Rosslyn Virginia, accessible only by footbridge from the Virginia shore off the GW Parkway, free, open dawn to dusk) is both a national park and a living memorial to President Roosevelt — the island (the 17-foot bronze Roosevelt statue in the central plaza, the 4 granite tablets with Roosevelt quotes on Democracy, Nature, Manhood, and Youth) is surrounded by tidal wetlands and forest; the island's trails (2.5 miles, looped) offer the most secluded nature experience accessible without a car in the DC area; deer, great blue herons, and red-tailed hawks are reliably seen.
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The National Arboretum — The Capitol Columns and Bonsai
The United States National Arboretum (3501 New York Avenue NE, free, open daily 8am–5pm, accessible by bus B2 from Union Station or by car) is the most undervisited significant green space in Washington DC — the Capitol Columns (the 22 original sandstone Corinthian columns from the US Capitol's east portico, removed during the 1958 Capitol extension, now arranged in a meadow in the Arboretum) and the National Bonsai and Penjing Museum (the collection of 150+ bonsai trees, the most significant public bonsai collection in the Western Hemisphere, including the Hiroshima survivor bonsai — a Japanese white pine that was 1 mile from the atomic blast in 1945 and survived) are the essential sites.