A scenic route that cuts through the Northwest and shoots straight into the heart of DC
Start: Sidwell Friends School
End: Washington Monument
Length: Approx. 0-13 miles
MAP
ROUTE GUIDE
This route begins at the rear entrance to Sidwell Friends School. This is on 37th St. in the little area that is sandwiched by Sidwell and Hearst School.
The starting location of the route
Cross the street so that you are on the Hearst side of the road. You should see this sign. The trail goes past this sign down the stairs behind it.
Hearst field is beyond this sign
Go down the steps
Where the red circle is, is where you want to aim for, because there is a staircase there that is the next part of the trail.
Across the field are another set of steps
After going down these steps (and one more flight below it), you will exit into a cul de sac.
You get to a culdesac
Go straight down the road until you get to an intersection (Springland & Reno).
Cross the street at the bottom of the hill
Once you cross the street, go straight towards Tilden Rd. and you will see the entrance to Melvin Hazen. It will be marked by this large sign.
Thus marks the entrance of the Melvin Hazen trail
Into the depths
Go down this trail. It’s pretty straightforward with minor junctions, but for the most part, it’s intuitive to tell which is the main path.
You can also choose to not enter the trail and take Tilden Rd. all the way down if you want.
One of the few junctions
Bridge means you’re close to the end of the 1st leg.
The trail will end at the back of a parking lot. Or, to be more specific, the 1st leg of Melvin Hazen will end at the back of a parking lot. Melvin Hazen is about .8 miles long, with .3 of it in the 1st leg and .5 of it in the 2nd leg. The two legs are divided by a bit of road.
The first leg of Melvin exits to a parking lot
Once you exit the 1st leg and run to the road ahead, you will see the entrance to the 2nd leg directly across the street. There is a crosswalk a block up to the left that I recommend you take, but you can also just take your chances and J-walk.
However, I really do not recommend it. There are few roads that are consistently very busy in DC and the time spent looking for a safe opening in traffic will be greater than the time it would take to run up to the crosswalk.
The entrance to the second leg is directly across the street
Close-up of the entrance
The second leg of Melvin Hazen is about half a mile long and will take you to the bottom of Tilden, by Beach Drive. It’s all downhill (approx 160 ft drop) but some parts can be slightly steep and you will be required to cross some streams.
Melvin Hazen is initially very steep
Still of Melvin Hazen
One of the streams you must cross
Melvin Hazen will finally exit into a field. You need to keep to the right and cross a bridge. However, there are bathrooms on this field if need be.
If you stayed on Tilden Rd, it will take you to this field as well.
Melvin Hazen trail will exit to this field. The bridge circled in red is where you have to go. However, bathrooms/water are to the left.
The bridge you must cross
Cruise down this street for a bit until you see this bridge:
Go down Beach Drive then make a right onto this bridge
Make a right onto this bridge. When I went running (May 2017), there was a lot of construction, but this loop is still doable.
The second bridge you cross
On paths like these, the side dirt road is easier on the knees
The key is to follow the creek. The creek will take you all the way to the rear entrance of the Zoo, so if in doubt, take whatever road keeps you close to the creek.
After you cross the second bridge, you’ll reach a complicated intersection (by Porter/Klingle).
You want to cross the bridge depicted below. Follow the path shown by the red lines.
Go across this bridge
Stay on the bike path but watch out for bikes around the bend
Consider tying jingle bells to your ankles to alert bikers of your presence
Once you hit the bridge, stay on the left side as you ride the bend upward. There’s no sidewalk but the good news is that there is a bike lane that’s pretty safe as long as you stay in it.
The bad news is that you’re going up the bike lane in the opposite direction around a bend. Just stay wary for any bikes (chances are there won’t be any though).
Stay in the bike lane and you’ll get to this junction. Take the right-most path onto Adams Mill Rd.
As you approach this junction, go right
When the road forks, go left
Adams Mill Rd. becomes Irving St.
The goal is to get to 16th St. Irving St. intersects with 16th. So, we need to get onto Irving. Lucky for us, if we stay on Adams Mill long enough, it will turn into Irving St.
This is great news because we just have to go straight to hit 16th St. The distance from the end of the bridge to 16th St. is .7 miles.
Bang a right onto 16th
This is what you see when you make a right onto 16th
If you stay on 16th St, it’s pretty much a straight shot to the White House. So, you really just have to stay on this road.
Why did I choose a route that consisted of mainly just one road? 16th St. cuts straight down DC, dividing the East from the West. It is one of the most scenic roads because it goes through so much of downtown DC.
As you run down 16th St taking in the sights, the monuments, the urban streets and bustling city life, and as the Washington Monument comes into view above the horizon, it’s quite a spectacular view that really makes you appreciate DC.
Here are some of the sights you will see:
National Memorial Baptist Church
All Souls Church, Unitarian
There is one slight detour I like to take, and that is cutting through Meridian Hill Park. Sitting right to the side of 16th St, Meridian Hill Park is a very scenic little park tucked away between urban roads. The first time I ran through it, I was shocked this even existed.Wait until you pass Euclid St.
Wait until you pass Euclid St.
The road before Meridian Hill Park
Immediately afterward, you will see the entrance to the park.
Entrance to Meridian Hill Park
Joan of Arc
The park consists of a long grass field with benches surrounding it. At the South terminus of the field is a statue of Joan of Arc.
Past that is a river-type thing with water flowing through it that looks very cool. Once you run past that, you will see an exit that will let you merge back onto 16th St a block down from where you left off.
Park exit
More sights:
House of the Temple
At one point you will get to a traffic circle. No need to fret, just go to the opposite end of the circle and continue on 16th.
Go 180 degrees (pi radians) around the circle to come out on the exact opposite side
Even more sights:
Samuel Hahnemann Monument
Finally, you will hit H St. after 2.2 miles of running on 16th St. The White House will come into view. You are technically behind it right now.
Make a left onto H St. then make the first right that you can onto an actual road, which will be 15th St.
H Street marks the end of 16th St.
15th St.
You will pass the Department of the Treasury with the Greek columns (although 70% of buildings in downtown DC utilize Greek architecture).
Department of the Treasury
Hang a right onto E St and you will get to a little location right in front of the White House. Good for the postcard-esque pictures.
If you hang a right onto E St, you can see the White House from the front
Yay America
From this position, you will see the Monument. All that is left is to run to there to complete the route. There are no instructions because if it’s in sight, you should have no problem getting there.
The Monument is visible from E St.
Route terminus
NOTES
Despite its simplicity, I really like this run because it takes full advantage of all the unique sights of DC. There aren’t an absurd amount of lights so you can run for quite a good amount without having to stop at all.
From a running standpoint, there are plenty of bathroom stops because of all the retail stores you pass, and it is extremely flat. The big downside, in my opinion, is that it’s all road running and no dirt/grass surfaces, which can hurt your knees. It is, however, a great transit run to get to downtown DC.