Closest trails · 8 ranked today

Trails near Washington, DC

No metro area in the country has this much serious trail within an hour. Great Falls on both sides of the Potomac, the C&O towpath in your front yard, Rock Creek inside the District itself, the Shenandoah ridges 90 minutes west, Catoctin and Sugarloaf 60 minutes north, and Harpers Ferry’s three-summit cluster at the WV/MD/VA tri-point. The trick is timing weekend traffic, not finding the trail.

Live · updated Jun 3, 7:48 PM ET

Closest trails, ranked today

Ropewalk

capital-crescent · 1.3 mi · ~3 min drive

61/100

Workable day for hiking.

0.1 mi paved Best for hiking

Normanstone Trail

capital-crescent · 1.7 mi · ~3 min drive

56/100

Workable day for hiking.

0.3 mi dirt Best for hiking

Mount Vernon Trail

theodore-roosevelt-island · 1.8 mi · ~4 min drive

56/100

Workable day for hiking.

0.48 mi paved Best for hiking

Freedom Park Trail

theodore-roosevelt-island · 1.9 mi · ~4 min drive

61/100

Workable day for hiking.

0.07 mi mixed Best for hiking

Neal Place Northeast Cycleway

anacostia-river-trail · 2.0 mi · ~4 min drive

61/100

Workable day for hiking.

0.04 mi paved Best for hiking

Custis Trail

theodore-roosevelt-island · 2.0 mi · ~4 min drive

61/100

Workable day for hiking.

0.16 mi paved Best for hiking

Klingle Valley Trail

capital-crescent · 2.0 mi · ~4 min drive

61/100

Workable day for hiking.

0.06 mi paved Best for hiking

Bridle Path

capital-crescent · 2.0 mi · ~4 min drive

56/100

Workable day for hiking.

0.4 mi dirt Best for hiking

Drive times are estimates

Mileage is straight-line distance from the center of Washington. Real drive times depend on traffic, mountain roads, and your starting point inside the metro. For weekend mornings on popular trailheads (Old Rag, Great Falls, Maryland Heights), assume the lot fills earlier than the headline drive time suggests — check the trail page for the parking-fill window.