MOST OF THE FOLKS IN THE Unofficial Guide family work out routinely, even when (or perhaps especially when) we’re traveling. We walk, run, do aerobics—the more “transportable” sports. It’s not just a matter of offsetting calories (although those of us who review restaurants need extra help) but of easing stress and jet lag. But picturesque as it is, Washington’s summer heat and humidity make outdoor exercise problematic. On bad days, local authorities may declare a “Code Orange,” meaning anyone with respiratory problems should limit exertion and outdoor exposure; “Code Red” is an even stronger warning for everyone to limit outdoor activities and use public transportation. Washington is also prone to high levels of allergens, especially in spring and fall, and of pollution in the summer. Although snow on sidewalks usually isn’t a problem in the major tourist areas because of removal operations, cold air can also be hard on those with respiratory trouble.
The good news is there’s less “work” in “workouts” these days and more “create” in “recreation.” With trapeze flying, zip lines, climbing walls, rowing and rafting, hiking and horseback riding, the Washington region—whose sweep includes rivers, lakes, mountains, battlefields, and an admirable amount of public parkland—has plenty to entice you.
THE MOST OBVIOUS METHOD OF EXERCISE—in fact, the almost unavoidable form for tourists—is walking. With its wide-open public spaces, long museum corridors, and picturesque neighborhoods, Washington is a walker’s haven (in both senses of the word: security is very good around the Mall at all hours).
Strolling (or running or biking) the Mall offers grand views of the Lincoln, Jefferson, and FDR Memorials and the Washington Monument, as well as the Tidal Basin and the Potomac River. It’s almost 2 miles from the Capitol steps to the Lincoln Memorial; crossing the bridge to Arlington National Cemetery fills out the 2 miles. You can also walk north along the river past the Kennedy Center and the Thompson Boat Center to the Georgetown waterfront. (This is really nice when the cherry blossoms are in flower; plan to have a drink or dinner at one of the Georgetown waterfront restaurants.) And within Georgetown, the waterfront and portions of the Chesapeake and Ohio (c&o) Canal Towpath are very popular; from the canal’s beginnings near the Four Seasons Hotel to Fletcher’s Boathouse is about 3 miles. From the Four Seasons to Union Station, going through the Mall and skirting the Capitol grounds, is also 3 miles, so round-trip is 6 miles.
Washington offers plenty of options to joggers as well. Most of the better running areas are relatively flat but visually stunning and centrally located, close to major hotels and attractions, making either a morning or late-afternoon run easy to fit into your schedule. Many hotels offer marked-route maps; check with the hotel concierge. (And, of course, if you master the road grid, as explained in Part Four, you can just take off and sidewalk-surf at will.)
The C&O Canal Towpath offers what is probably the best running surface in town. Runners, cyclists, and hikers love this wide, dirt-pack trail that runs between the scenic Potomac River and the canal. Mileposts along the towpath keep you informed of your distance, but there are also several larger landmarks: Fletcher’s Boathouse around mile 3 has restrooms and some vending machines. Glen Echo Park (see Part Five: Attractions) is about 7 miles out. (If you’re not too tarty or sweaty, you may be able to get a restorative meal and/or drink at the Irish Inn at Glen Echo.) Another 7 miles out, near mile marker 14, is the enormous cataract at Great Falls.
In all, the C&O Canal, the entire stretch of which is now a national park (thanks primarily to the efforts of US Supreme Court Justice William O. Douglas), runs 184.5 miles to Cumberland, Maryland, offering hikers, bikers, and joggers another way to enjoy several scenic and historic areas, including White’s Ferry, where car commuters and recreational visitors still cross the Potomac toward Leesburg; Harpers Ferry, where John Brown made his war-inciting stand; and Sharpsburg, Maryland, also known as Antietam battlefield. (This can be done in stages, of course; go to nps.gov/choh/planyourvisit.)
There’s a second path that follows the C&O Towpath as far as Fletcher’s Boathouse but then turns east toward Bethesda and Silver Spring. The Capital Crescent Trail, based on the old Baltimore and Ohio (B&O) Railroad right-of-way (and including a bridge over the canal), has both a wide biking trail and in many places a separate running path. It has become so popular (more than a million walkers, runners, in-line skaters, and bikers every year) that it is now recognized as the most heavily used rail head in the country. From Georgetown to Bethesda—where the trail emerges at a convenient restaurant neighborhood not far from the Metro—is about 7 miles.
The Mount Vernon Trail is a riverside route on the Virginia side of the Potomac that starts near Theodore Roosevelt Island off the George Washington Memorial Parkway, goes downriver through Old Town Alexandria, past wildlife refuges and marinas, monument views, jet takeoffs, and so on, and winds up 18.5 miles later at Mount Vernon itself. Roosevelt Island is a sweet little wildlife and woodlands refuge designed by Frederick Olmsted, with a 1.6-mile easy walking loop.
For a more extensive guide to hikes in the area, check out author Paul Elliott’s 60 Hikes within 60 Miles: Washington, D.C., published by Menasha Ridge Press (menasharidge.com).
These trails and routes are great for cycling, too, of course. Adult cruiser bikes (plus helmets, baskets, locks, and so on) are available for rent on a first-come, first-serve basis at Thompson Boat Center on the Georgetown waterfront (thompsonboatcenter.com). Fletcher’s Boathouse also rents single-speed cruisers and 21-speed train bikes. Bike the Sites rents mountain bikes from its offices behind the Old Post Office Pavilion (
202-842-2453; bikethesites.com).
MOST MAJOR HOTELS THESE DAYS HAVE A FITNESS ROOM with some cardio and weight-lifting equipment. However, if you are a member of one of the national chains, or are willing to buy a day pass, you have scores of options; many clubs have massage therapists, yoga instructors, and even hair stylists on hand (not to mention pick-me-ups).
Vida Fitness in the Verizon Center is the flagship of a very trendy local chain, now with five branches downtown (vidafitness.com) and all with salons on site, so if you want to break a sweat before that breakfast meeting, you’re covered. Sports Club/LA in the Ritz-Carlton Hotel at 22nd and M Streets NW ($35; mpsportsclub.com) is very hip and also boasts a handy deluxe spa for taking the ache out.
There are a dozen Bally/LA Fitness Clubs in the Washington area (ballyfitness.com); a similar number of Fitness First locations (fitnessfirstclubs.com); and almost two dozen Sport & Health Clubs, some with golf and tennis facilities (sportandhealth.com). (If you check the companies’ websites, you can sometimes find free trial memberships.) Washington Sports Club, with 16 area locations, is part of a company that also operates chains in Philadelphia, Boston, and New York City, and gets high marks for high-tech ($30; mysportsclubs.com). One of its biggest claims to fame, however, is that one of the employees once asked member President (then-presidential candidate) Barack Obama for ID—“and your first name is...?”
WASHINGTON HAS SEVERAL PUBLIC TENNIS FACILITIES, but only two are likely to accommodate visitors. Rock Creek Tennis Center (rockcreektennis.com), which is home to a pre–US Open tournament every August that draws many of the sport’s biggest stars (Andre Agassi was a five-time champion, Andy Roddick a three-timer), has 25 hard and clay courts, 5 of them heated. East Potomac Tennis Center (eastpotomactennis.com), on Hains Point near the Tidal Basin, has 24 hard courts, including 5 under a year-round bubble. Make prime-time reservations for both a week in advance, but walk-ups have a pretty good chance of getting a court weekdays.
East Potomac Park also has one of three golf courses operated by the National Park Service and the only one easily accessible by public transportation (and the least expensive, with weekday rates starting at $10 for 9 holes). It offers one 18-hole course, two 9-hole courses, a driving range, and a very picturesque 1930s 18-hole miniature golf course (no cartoon characters here). In addition, East Potomac Park, which is more than 300 acres altogether, has an outdoor pool, plus a playground and picnic facilities, so it’s a good choice for family outings ( 202-426-6841; npca.org/parks).
The other golf centers are Langston Golf Course, along the Anacostia River in Northeast D.C., and Rock Creek Golf Course. For more information on all three parks, visit golfdc.com.
There are also many courses in Montgomery County (montgomerycountygolf.com) and Fairfax County (fairfaxcounty.gov/parks/golf). However, you’ll have to know somebody—and maybe somebody she knows too—to get into Bethesda’s famed Congressional Country Club (ccclub.org), which lists scores of politicos and power brokers among its members; if you have a marker to call in, this would be the time, especially if you have dreams of seeing Tiger Woods at his annual tournament there.
Trumping even Tiger, The Donald has renovated the old Lowes Island course into the 600-acre Trump National Golf Club near Sterling, Virginia (trumpnationaldc.com), and hopes to lure an LPGA tournament. But you have a better chance of winning on The Apprentice than scoring a free pass. Ditto the TPC Potomac at Avenel Farm in Potomac (tpc.com/potomac), which has hosted numerous PGA tours over the years.
LOCAL WATERS ARE POLLUTED to one degree or another, so unless you have friends with a rental along the Atlantic beaches, stick to your hotel swimming pool, ask the hotel concierge to direct you to the nearest pool or gym, or check out one of these popular aquatic centers.
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There are only a few hotels that offer pool passes to outsiders, and most of those, of course, are open only between Memorial Day and Labor Day.
One of the nicest is the free Olympicsize pool at East Potomac Park (see opposite page), open June–early October ( 202-727-6523; npca.org/parks). The year-round pool at Rumsey Aquatic Center near the Eastern Market Metro station on Capitol Hill (also called the Capitol Hill Natorium) is also free to D.C. residents, so ask your friends to treat you like family … or pay the $4 nonresident fee ( 202-724-4495). For those staying in Bethesda or Rockville, the completely accessible and innovative Kennedy Shriver Aquatic Center, where some of America’s Olympic divers trained, is walking distance from the White Flint Metro station ( 240-777-8070).
THERE ARE A COUPLE OF THE ELEVATED-ROPE adventure parks in the Washington area, though neither are Metro-accessible: Go Ape (goape.com) at Lake Needwood in Rockville, Maryland, a few minutes’ drive off I-270 or Route 355; and Terrapin Adventures (terrapinadventures.com) in Savage, Maryland. Go Ape is the first American course from a company that already owns more than two dozen such attractions in the United Kingdom. In a space the size of seven football fields, it scatters zip lines, Tarzan Swings, rope ladders, trapezes, and so on. Each park has restrictions involving minimum age, height, waist size (for harnesses), weight, minimal fitness levels, and so on. (Pregnant women may have to sign a waiver.) For the more challenging routes, you will have preliminary instruction, and most have courses that range from beginner to advanced. Prices start at about $50.
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Want to get in the swing—seriously? Take a class at Trapeze School New York’s offshoot at the Navy Yard Metro (washingtondc.trapezeschool.com). They also teach juggling and trampoline for the fainter of heart.
Though farther away, Terrapin Adventures is even more elaborate, with a 330-foot zip line 30 feet in the air, a giant tandem swing with an 80-foot arc, a multilevel rope course, and a 43-foot climbing tower. It also offers kayaking, tubing, fly fishing, wind surfing, horseback riding, and geocaching.
Results Gym (resultsthegym.com) on Capitol Hill has a 38-foot rock wall. But Earth Treks Rockville, near the Rockville Metro station (earthtreksclimbing.com), is the largest indoor climbing facility in the country, with 38,500 square feet of rock wall; a day pass is $22.
IF YOU’RE ANYWHERE ALONG THE POTOMAC RIVER early in the day or around dusk, you’ll see the area’s school rowing crews doing drills. The George Washington University Invitational Regatta, which draws teams from all over the country during the Cherry Blossom Festival, is only one of the many contests. And all forms of rowing are increasingly popular in the Washington area; some high-level competitors come here to train.
Canoes, rowboats, and single and double kayaks are available for rent at Thompson Boat Center and Fletcher’s Boat House. Key Bridge Boathouse (keybridgeboathouse.com), located at the foot of Key Bridge in Georgetown, rents two- and three-person canoes, single and double kayaks, and stand-up paddleboards.
However, please do not ignore warning signs about water conditions, particularly at Great Falls: Even experienced kayak competitors have drowned, the last as recently as 2013.
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Inspired by those rowing crews you see on the river? Or maybe you’re just a fan of those British-historical romance movies? Thompson Boat Center offers private rowing lessons ($75 an hour) and sculling courses ($150 for a week’s course), and even sweep rowing courses, which draw out-of-town Olympic team wannabes ($250 for two weeks).
THERE ARE A FEW YEAR-ROUND ICE RINKS in the Washington area, but the two that would be the most fun for out-of-towners are the one on the Mall and the other within sight of the White House.
Come skating weather—generally mid-November through mid-March—the Sculpture Garden of the National Gallery of Art between Seventh and Ninth Streets NW and Constitution and Madison Avenues (nga.gov/skating) is transformed into a fantasy ice rink in the middle of the Mall, with the U.S. Capitol and all the Smithsonian museums lit up as a backdrop. It’s open until a romantic 11 p.m. on Fridays and Saturdays, and the Pavilion Café, a lovely retro-Deco glass-sided eatery alongside the garden, serves until 9 p.m. A few blocks away, Pershing Park, just east of the Treasury Building and the White House at 14th Street and Pennsylvania Avenue NW, with a view of the Washington Monument and many federal buildings, also gets a wintertime coat of ice. It’s lit (late) too.
Several public rinks are accessible by Metro—and at Metro developments, in fact. The plaza atop the Bethesda Metro is iced during winter, as are the outdoor-café area at the Shops at Pentagon Row (part of the Pentagon City complex) and the town square at Rockville Town Center.
For hockey fans, however, the most intriguing facility might be Kettler Capitals Iceplex, atop a seven-story office building at Ballston Common Mall (at the Ballston Metro) in Arlington; it’s the practice rink for the NHL Washington Capitals (kettlercapitalsiceplex.com).
There are three jointly owned downhill ski complexes within two- to three-hours’ drive from Washington: Whitetail (skiwhitetail.com), Ski Roundtop (skiroundtop.com), and Liberty Mountain Resort (skiliberty.com), all located in south-central Pennsylvania.
IN 2005, AFTER A 30-YEAR DROUGHT, Washington welcomed a Major League Baseball home team: the Washington Nationals of the National League, formerly the Montreal Expos. In 2008, the team moved into an elaborate stadium complex located at the Navy Yard Metro. Tickets can range well into the hundreds, but singles start at $10, and all sight lines here are good. In season, fans can take an hour-long behind-the-scenes tour on off-days or when the game is at night—or a 75-minute tour on nongame days, including the clubhouse (washington.nationals.mlb.com). In those three decades, many locals became fans of American League’s Baltimore Orioles, whose retro-chic Oriole Park at Camden Yards stadium is only about an hour away (baltimore.orioles.mlb.com); see more on a Baltimore day trip in Part Five: Sightseeing Tips, Tours, and Attractions.
The Washington area is a haven for minor league teams—there are a half dozen various levels within a couple of hours’ drive—but the only one close-in is part of the Cal Ripken Collegiate Baseball League: Bethesda Big Train (bigtrain.org). Named for Washington Senators pitching great Walter “Big Train” Johnson, they are the winners of three consecutive league championships from 2009 to 2011 and runners-up in 2012 and 2013. The CRCBL plays a short season, pretty much June and July, but it’s great fun, and tickets are only $9. The team plays at home at Cabin John Regional Park just outside the Beltway in Bethesda.
For those who see baseball as a stepchild of cricket, Washington’s international community supports more than two dozen accredited teams, and one of the most popular fields is in West Potomac Park near the Jefferson Memorial, where you can often see white-suited teams bowling away on a weekend. For information go to wclinc.com.
WASHINGTON’S PROFESSIONAL BASKETBALL TEAMS, the NBA Washington Wizards and its sister team, the WNBA’s Mystics, play at home at the Verizon Center, located right above the Gallery Place–Chinatown Metro. For schedules and tickets, go to nba.com/wizards or wnba.com/mystics.
Georgetown University (guhoyas.com) also plays its home games at Verizon Center. The George Washington University Colonials (gwsports.com) have many devoted fans (watch for celebs and media faces), and the team’s Smith Center home is very near the Foggy Bottom–GWU Metro stop.
LOTS OF LUCK GETTING TICKETS TO THE Washington Redskins, whose fans are famously among the true fanatics in pro sports. Scalpers regularly charge three to four times the regular ticket price—more if the ’Skins are playing Dallas. If you don’t mind walking a mile, the Morgan Boulevard Metro station has a dedicated walkway to FedEx Field (redskins.com). The Baltimore Ravens’ stadium, just south of the Orioles’ Camden Yards, is accessible via MARC (baltimoreravens.com).
The Washington area is also home to the full-contact Independent Women’s Football League D.C. Divas (dcdivas.com), who play on an outdoor field adjacent to the Redskins’ FedEx Field.
Pro soccer is “football” to the rest of the world. D.C. United plays 16 home games each season (March–September) at RFK Stadium (at the Stadium–Armory Metro station). However, the team hopes eventually to move to a new stadium near Nationals Park (dcunited.com).
WASHINGTON’S PROFESSIONAL HOCKEY TEAM, the Washington Capitals (capitals.nhl.com), shares ownership with the Wizards and Mystics and also plays at the Verizon Center.
Although it’s not quite the same sort of “blades,” D.C.’s four-team flat-track roller derby league, the DC Rollergirls (dcrollergirls.com), is just as entertaining. In classic fashion, teams have pun-heavy monikers such as Scarce Force One, the Majority Whips, and Marion Barrycuda, an in-town joke referring to D.C.’s often-arraigned former mayor. The teams play a winter-spring season at the DC Armory (Stadium-Armory Metro).
The US Open tennis circuit includes a major tournament in August, the Citi Open, at the Fitzgerald Tennis Center in Rock Creek Park; there is shuttle service from the Van Ness Metro station (citiopentennis.com). Washington also has a World Team Tennis franchise, the Washington Kastles, coached by Murphy Jensen, which has won four championships in five years. The team, which features such veterans as Martina Hengis and Leander Paes, plays a three-week season on the Southwest marina near the Waterfront Metro (washingtonkastles.com).
HARNESS:
Rosecroft Raceway—Fort Washington, MD; rosecroft.com
THOROUGHBRED:
Hollywood Casino at Charles Town Races—Charles Town, WV; hollywoodcasinocharlestown.com
Laurel Race Course—Laurel, MD; laurelpark.com
Pimlico Race Course—Baltimore, MD; pimlico.com
RACING HAS A LONG HISTORY IN THE WASHINGTON AREA, particularly in Maryland, and both thoroughbred and harness racing are available at a number of tracks around Washington, though they’re not easy to get to: only Laurel is accessible by (MARC) train. It’s a little run down, but Pimlico, outside Baltimore, is home to the Preakness Stakes, the middle contest of thoroughbred racing’s Triple Crown, and the third Saturday in May is part of a huge celebration there. Check The Washington Post to see which track is in season during your visit and for handicapping.
There are several major steeplechase courses in the Washington region, the most famous being the Gold Cup lineup every October (vagoldcup.com).