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DC Trip 2024➤

Our congressman came through with tickets to visit the White House in October of 2024. So my husband and I took a long weekend to visit Washington, DC. He hadn’t been to many of the sites, so we spent a few days visiting the various National Park Service units. We toured several memorials, monuments and other sites, including Rock Creek Park.

Rock Creek Park➤

After visiting the Mary McLeod Bethune Council House, we drove to Rock Creek Park to spend the rest of the morning outdoors. At the Nature Center, we talked with a ranger about trail options nearby. We wanted something close to the center—nothing too strenuous—but that would give us a good sense of what the park had to offer. She recommended a loop combining sections of the Western Ridge Trail, the Black Horse Trail, and the White Horse Trail.

Rock Creek Park is one of the oldest urban parks in the National Park System, established in 1890 as a peaceful green space within Washington, D.C. The park covers more than 1,700 acres of forests, meadows, and historic sites. It offers a quiet contrast to the busy streets only a few miles away.

Our loop trail turned out to be a perfect choice. We passed the earthworks of Fort DeRussy, one of the Civil War defenses built to protect the capital. The path then descended toward Rock Creek, where the sound of the water followed us through the woods. Along the way, we saw the Miller Cabin, a rustic log structure from the 1800s, and crossed near Milkhouse Ford, a historic shallow crossing once used by wagons and horseback riders. The trail offered a little bit of everything—history, scenery, and the peacefulness of nature in the middle of the city.

2024 DC Trip Posts➤

• WWI Memorial
• The White House
• White House Tour Pt 1
• White House Tour Pt 2
• Lockkeeper’s House
• Martin Luther King Memorial
• FDR Memorial
• Jefferson Memorial
• Korean War Memorial
• Lincoln Memorial
• Constitution Gardens
• Washington Monument
• Mary McLeod Bethune Council House
• Rock Creek Park
• Supreme Court
• Capitol
• Library of Congress
• Theodore Roosevelt Island
• George Washington Parkway
• LBJ Memorial Grove
• Ford Theater
• Belmont-Paul
• Frederick Douglas

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Location: 5200 Glover Road NW, Washington, DC
Designation: National Park Service Unit
Date designated/established: September 27, 1890
Date of my visit: October 25, 2024