For many locals, East Potomac Park is one of the city’s best-kept secrets.

This airy peninsula just south of the Jefferson Memorial drives a grassy wedge between the Potomac River and the Washington Channel.

The park draws sports enthusiasts throughout the year. You’ll find one 18-hole and two 9-hole public golf courses, miniature golfing, and a seasonal public pool.

The scenic riverfront trail that winds around the park’s perimeter is popular with walkers, runners, bikers, and skaters. In October, it fills with competitors in the annual Marine Corps Marathon.

Every spring, the park’s Japanese cherry trees burst into clouds of pink and white.

Hains Point, at the park’s eastern edge, offers stunning views of the river, Fort McNair, and the National War College. You can watch planes takeoff and land at Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport, while children frolic on the sandy playground.

If You Go: 

“The Awakening,” a dramatic oversized statue of a prone man who appears to be clawing his way out of the sand, was moved from Hains Point to National Harbor in 2008.

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