Glover Archbold Trail Washington DC

Nature trail in urban DC

Lydia from Washington DC

""Glover Archbold Trail" DC is a 3.5-mile flat and well-traveled trail popular with locals and their dogs. Worth the trek, especially the pedestrian tunnel."

One Christmas, we were driving slowly down Massachusetts Avenue in a snowstorm when an 8-point buck appeared in the road, gazing straight at us as if to say “this is my territory.” Indeed, it is. The forested hollow between Wisconsin Avenue and American University is home to not only deer but fox, raccoon, owl, possum and coyotes. In 1947, Senator Carl Hayden was denied a proposed 4-lane highway here; today the Glover-Archbold trail, a 3.5-mile trail, runs through this urban woodland from Tenleytown to the Potomac River.

The trail is flat and well traveled, popular with locals and their dogs, making it a leisurely walk rather than a hike but for a few areas. There are a couple of pieces of rocky pathway, one across a small creek, some steps and just now a section at the Foundry Branch park, running under a now defunct streetcar bridge, is closed due to “aerial hazards.” A detour is clearly marked.

Still, it’s worth the trek, especially to traverse the pedestrian tunnel filled with graffiti art under Canal Road, opening onto the C&O trail. Small paths lead from the trail to the river, where a rock or tree branch provides the ultimate spot to rest and contemplate the journey.

And PS – I’ve never actually seen a coyote there, but on my last run did observe a magnificent jet black squirrel. Read more on them in Spotted by Locals DC.

Relaxing

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Washington DC Spotter Lydia

About me: The tale is in the telling. I am a storyteller, an excavator, a messenger, and for many years a journalist, with a portofolio that includes words crafted for magazines, books, online, television, newspapers, corporations and podcasts. I think everyone has a story, and everything. The person who made your coffee this morning (especially if that was you), and who picked the beans, the pedigree of the beans themselves, not to mention the arduous process of crop to cup. I do, however, prefer “inquisitive” to “nosy". An expat kid raised in the UK & Greece, I've also lived in Vie...

About this spot

Canal Road Northwest at Foxhall Road NW

US$

free

Website

2028956000

Dec 5, 2025

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