I live in Somerville, MA now, but I used to live in D.C. (and am in D.C. this summer). The thing I miss most about D.C. is Rock Creek Park, which is the most amazing urban park. It runs right through the center of the city up to the Maryland border (continues through MD as well, but I'm not too familiar with that stretch). There's a nice running path right through the center, and a ton of trails in the park itself. You are in the city one minute, and then in the middle of nature the next, which is pretty excellent.
There are so many trails that you can wander up and down, so this is more a description of individual trails rather than full hikes, because you can kind of mix and match as you please. Also, the trails are so well maintained that I normally trail run here rather than hike, but I do see a lot of hikers towards the northern part of the park, and some of those trails are fairly steep, so that's not a bad option.
Western Ridge Trail- Rock Creek Park
My personal favorite, although stretches of it make for a pretty exhausting run. You can pick the trail up at various points along the main running path, and it's about 5 miles of trail all together. The trail is green-blazed. I usually pick it up just north of Blagden Ave. where Beach Drive is closed to cars on the weekends. The first mile or so is pretty steep and the footing is a little iffy. The trail gets a lot nicer from there, with rolling up and downs but nothing too crazy.
Valley Trail- Rock Creek Park
I don't run as much along this trail, because it's super steep. Mostly for hikers. If you're looking for more of a challenge, go for it. The trail runs along the other side of Rock Creek and is marked with pink blazes. It's 5.6 miles total.
C&O Trail
This trail runs many many miles well up into Maryland. The most well-traveled stretch (at least by runners) starts in Georgetown. It's a little hard to find the exact start- the Mile 0 marker is basically between M St and K St around where Pennsylvania Ave. comes in. Or you can just run along K St (where the big movie theater is, etc) and pick up the trail about 1/3 of a mile down. This is not a traditional running "trail" but it's really pleasant because you get to run along the Potomac. It's really busy on weekends, and particularly popular with bikers, because the Capital Crescent Trail runs parallel to the C&O for about 2 miles (?) before forking off to the northeast.
There's a boathouse where you can rent kayaks, canoes, etc. near Mile 3. I've only been up to about Mile 5, but you can keep going up to access Great Falls, which is pretty cool. That's at about Mile 12. This would be an amazing trail to train for a super long-distance race, because it's just so uninterrupted (unlike Rock Creek Park where you have to pick up and leave off the trails at various points).
There are so many trails that you can wander up and down, so this is more a description of individual trails rather than full hikes, because you can kind of mix and match as you please. Also, the trails are so well maintained that I normally trail run here rather than hike, but I do see a lot of hikers towards the northern part of the park, and some of those trails are fairly steep, so that's not a bad option.
Western Ridge Trail- Rock Creek Park
My personal favorite, although stretches of it make for a pretty exhausting run. You can pick the trail up at various points along the main running path, and it's about 5 miles of trail all together. The trail is green-blazed. I usually pick it up just north of Blagden Ave. where Beach Drive is closed to cars on the weekends. The first mile or so is pretty steep and the footing is a little iffy. The trail gets a lot nicer from there, with rolling up and downs but nothing too crazy.
Valley Trail- Rock Creek Park
I don't run as much along this trail, because it's super steep. Mostly for hikers. If you're looking for more of a challenge, go for it. The trail runs along the other side of Rock Creek and is marked with pink blazes. It's 5.6 miles total.
C&O Trail
This trail runs many many miles well up into Maryland. The most well-traveled stretch (at least by runners) starts in Georgetown. It's a little hard to find the exact start- the Mile 0 marker is basically between M St and K St around where Pennsylvania Ave. comes in. Or you can just run along K St (where the big movie theater is, etc) and pick up the trail about 1/3 of a mile down. This is not a traditional running "trail" but it's really pleasant because you get to run along the Potomac. It's really busy on weekends, and particularly popular with bikers, because the Capital Crescent Trail runs parallel to the C&O for about 2 miles (?) before forking off to the northeast.
There's a boathouse where you can rent kayaks, canoes, etc. near Mile 3. I've only been up to about Mile 5, but you can keep going up to access Great Falls, which is pretty cool. That's at about Mile 12. This would be an amazing trail to train for a super long-distance race, because it's just so uninterrupted (unlike Rock Creek Park where you have to pick up and leave off the trails at various points).
No comments:
Post a Comment