Parks & The Outdoors

Rock Creek Park is the spine of green DC — 1,754 acres running north-south through the city. More than twice the size of Central Park. Run by the National Park Service since 1890.

Inside you'll find: the Nature Center & Planetarium, Pierce Mill (a working 19th-century gristmill), Boulder Bridge, miles of horse and bike trails, the Carter Barron Amphitheatre, and Beach Drive — partially closed to cars on weekends so cyclists, runners, and walkers take over.

An 88-acre wooded island in the Potomac, accessible only on foot via a footbridge from the GW Parkway in Arlington. At the center: a 17-foot bronze statue of Teddy Roosevelt in a clearing surrounded by quotes about nature and citizenship. No cars, no bikes — just trails. A great escape that's 10 minutes from downtown.

The Tidal Basin is a manmade reservoir between the Jefferson Memorial and the MLK Memorial. Japan gifted 3,000 cherry trees in 1912, and they ring the basin. Peak bloom is usually late March / early April — the National Park Service starts publishing predictions in early March.

Go at sunrise to avoid the crowds. Better yet: rent a paddle boat from the Tidal Basin boathouse and see them from the water.

A formal Italian/French-inspired park with the longest cascading fountain in North America (13 basins). The neighborhood calls it Malcolm X Park in honor of unofficial naming efforts dating to the 1960s.

Every Sunday afternoon (spring/summer), an open-air drum circle has been running since the 1960s — one of DC's oldest unbroken cultural traditions. Bring a picnic.

• C&O Canal Towpath — 184.5 miles of flat, shaded crushed-stone trail starting at Mile 0 in Georgetown. Walk a mile or ride 100. Run by the National Park Service. • Mount Vernon Trail — 18 paved miles along the Virginia side of the Potomac, from Rosslyn down to George Washington's Mount Vernon. • Capital Crescent Trail — paved former rail line from Georgetown to Bethesda. • Anacostia Riverwalk Trail — connects Navy Yard, Yards Park, and the eastern half of the city via the Anacostia River.

• U.S. National Arboretum (NE DC) — the famous Capitol Columns standing in a meadow, a world-class bonsai museum, and azalea collections that go off in late April. • Great Falls of the Potomac — 14 miles upriver, accessible from both the Maryland (C&O Canal NHP) and Virginia (Great Falls Park) sides. The Potomac drops 76 feet through a series of cataracts. Genuinely dramatic. • Hains Point / East Potomac Park — at the southern tip of the city, with a public outdoor pool, golf, mini-golf, and tennis — plus a great cycling loop.