A shady dirt trail that travels south from Tenleytown and connects to the Capital Crescent Trail in Georgetown then finally concludes at the Lincoln Memorial.
Start: Sidwell Friends School, Main Entrance
End: Fletcher’s Cove (what is Fletcher’s Cove you ask? It’s just one of the checkpoints along the C&O towpath)
Length: Approx. 0-8.2 miles
MAP
ROUTE GUIDE
The route begins on Wisconsin Avenue in front of Sidwell Friends School (3825 Wisconsin Avenue). Cross the street and enter Rodman Street.
Wisconsin and Rodman
Take the road until it ends, then make a left onto 39th street. A little park should come into view on your right.
The park. Don’t run over any babies.
Enter the park and run to behind the swing sets. You should see a descending staircase, which is the entrance to the trail.
The entrance to the trail.
When you get to the bottom of the downhill, turn left. If you stay on the dirt path, the trail will eventually toss you out onto a green field by Massachusetts Avenue. This part of the trail is mainly uphill but nothing bad.
Massachusetts Field
If you follow the dirt path through Massachusetts Field, you will get to Massachusetts Avenue (surprise!). At this point, you are about half a mile into your run.
Make a right onto Massachusetts Avenue. Run until you get to this intersection:
The intersection that is safe to cross.
Uphills are fun! Note that dirt trail right next to the sidewalk.
Cross the road, then continue going up Mass. Ave. in the same direction.
This entire stretch is all uphill, so have fun working them calves! I like to run up this road on the little dirt trail on the grass next to the sidewalk because it’s easier on the knees, especially since asphalt + hills do not mix well.
Eventually, you’ll get to a traffic circle. No need to cross any streets, just make a left.
Bear a left here.
You should now be on Nebraska Ave. If you look to your right, you should see the American University Campus. Keep going down Nebraska until you hit Foxhall Road. You should see a grass field ahead of you.
Nebraska & Foxhall
At this point, you’re about 1.5 miles into your run. Cross the street and then cross the field towards approximately where the red circle is. You should see a trail opening.
This is where the good part starts.
Entrance to the trail (zoomed in)
If you take this trail all the way down, you’ll get to a staircase. Go down the stone steps and the trail will continue to a big field.
This field is the location of the Foxhall workout spot. Also, note that the entire next mile is all a nice steady downhill, so enjoy it, because on the way back you’re gonna have to do the same thing uphill.
Downhills are wonderful
Head for that little circle.
Your first alternate route option
Now when you get the location depicted above, you have two options: you can go left or right. The “official” route goes left, but if you go right you’ll end up in the same place (the two paths run parallel to each other).
The left path is a bit easier because it’s all a steady downhill, while the right path goes up then goes down, so if you want a bit more hills, opt for the right.
The left path
The left path is a pretty simple straight shot down to MacArthur Blvd. Just don’t take any side roads or anything. Stay on the main path (it should be easy to tell which is the main path).
Also, while on the left path, if you choose to, you can take one of the side paths to transfer to the Glover Archbold Trail.
I notice that this trail is very popular with dog owners, so watch out for them little puppers. Also, I saw a snake on this trail once. Just a heads up.
If you choose to take the right path, you’re gonna have to go up this hill and find a side trail on the left.
The dirt side path is visible
If you take this side trail, you’ll get to a junction, depicted below. Follow the red arrows.
The right path
The rest is pretty simple: just stay on the main path. If you see side paths to your left, those will connect you down to the “left” trail mentioned earlier.
Also, this alternate path is much narrower than the main path.
Anyways, no matter which path you’ll take, both will take you to MacArthur Blvd.
The trail exits to MacArthur Blvd.
As you can see, the left and right path merge at MacArthur Blvd.
The trail continues directly on the other side of MacArthur Blvd, to the left of the red barn house.
There’s a crossroad just a block away if you feel the need to be a safe and upstanding member of our community, but otherwise, just j-walk. It’s not hard to find a safe opening in traffic, and the median serves as a base while crossing.
The red barn house
A closeup of the trail by the barn house. Go left.
You can see the creek
At this point, you’re about 2 and a quarter miles into your run.
This next bit of trail runs parallel to a small creek. At this point, you can either continue on this trail or take a shortcut through the creek that will take you directly to Fletcher’s Cove. If you do so, it will only be about 2.7 miles to Fletcher’s Cove instead of approximately 4. So, you decide whether or not you want to cut your run short and head directly for the terminus of this trail.
If you want to take the shortcut to Fletcher’s Cove:
Keep your eyes peeled on the left for a bamboo bridge:
It’s kinda narrow and rickety so don’t run across it. In fact, don’t use it at all because one day someone’s going to be crossing it and the bridge is going to break. It’s going to happen. But the bridge is still good for marking where to diverge from the main path (or if you have an appetite for danger).
The directions aren’t difficult: follow the creek all the way down and go through the little tunnel that the creek goes through and you will find yourself at Fletcher’s Cove. So if you’re the adventurous type that is confident in one’s ability to not roll ankles, stop reading here and figure it out yourself.
For those that like to play it safe, I’m here to tell you that there is an optimal way to take this shortcut. The key is to stick to the left of the creek. If you cross the bridge, you should be able to discern a dirt path that runs parallel to the creek. This is what you want to take.
Stick to the left of the creek for the most optimal route
At the bottom of the creek, you’ll see the tunnel:
The tunnel
The light at the end of the tunnel
You might be thinking that this looks super sketchy and also kind of creepy. The tunnel is actually really short and way less sketchy than the tunnel seen on the Glover Archbold Trail. Just make sure that you watch your footing and you stay low while in the tunnel or you’re going to hit your head.
This is what the tunnel looks like on the other end:
Other side of the tunnel
If you decide to stay on the main route:
If you choose to NOT be a slacker, then stay on that trail by the barn house until you get to a grassy field.
Where the trail connects to the field
The field
If you look the left while at this point, you can actually see the canal.
You’ll get to a junction that looks like this:
The junction
The left path is the main route. However, you can also take the right path, and both will take you to the Palisades Playground, which is the next checkpoint along our run. If you choose to take the right path, follow road signs to stay on Sherrier Road until you see the park on your left.
If you take the left path, just stay on the trail until you reach Palisades Playground. One part may be tricky because you have to cross a road and find the entrance to a trail.
The trail ends in this culdesac
The trail continues directly across the street
Finall, you’ll get to the park:
Palisades park parking lot
Bathrooms are available at this park!
If you took the road, you’ll see the parking lot on your left. If you continue to run such that the park is to your left, you’ll see the continuation of this trail:
Take the grass path
This path is basically a straight shot to Galena Place.
You’ll run through this caged bridge
The trail exits to Galena. Make a left.
Immediately after making a left.
Run up Galena until it T-intersects with Potomac Ave. Make a left up there. Galena is pretty hilly going up, just a heads up.
As you run down Potomac Ave, you’re looking for an opening to a trail that will take you down to the canal. Luckily, it’s right by a stop sign.
The entrance
Once you find the entrance, stay on it until it tosses you out next to a bridge. Don’t get tempted by side trails. You’ll know which is the main trail and which is the side trail because the main trail is always bigger. Exhibit A:
Go left here. The left trail is much wider than the right trail.
If you’re ever on a trail and it just seems to end into wilderness or if the trail gets so narrow you can’t really run on it, you took a wrong turn.
Right as the trail is about to end, there will be a steep decline over these roots:
(g)roots
The trail will empty onto Canal Rd. You’re basically there. About half a mile left! Make a left at the road.
The trail exits to Canal Rd! Make a left over the bridge.
This traffic is exactly why running in DC is the stratRight after the bridge, you’ll see the option to take a wooden staircase down to the towpath. Whether you stay on Canal Rd. or take the stairs down to the towpath, both will take you to Fletcher’s Cove (although at this point you’re already at the canal so you could just toss out the guide and freeball it).
I prefer to run on the towpath than the road because it’s easier on the knees, but like I said it doesn’t matter what you take since these paths run parallel to each other. Just remember that if you take the stairs down, keep running in the direction that you were originally running on the road.
Yet another option for an alternative path
Just a bit later you will arrive at Fletcher’s Cove!
You’ll know you’re at Fletcher’s Cove when you see this bridge.
Bathrooms and water are available!
As you can see, Canal Rd. and the towpath connect at Fletcher’s Cove.
NOTES
Battery Kemble is a great trail because it’s mostly dirt, which means it’s easy on my knees. Also, the trails are nice and wide and flat, so you don’t really have to worry about rolling any ankles (assuming you don’t take alternate routes).
The one bad thing is that going back the way you came is a brutal uphill, especially the stretch from the barn house to Foxhall Rd. It’s so brutal in fact that it’s a great workout spot.
As with all out-and-backs, you can decide when to turn around, and as a result, how long you run. There are also a fair amount of bathroom stops along the way and plenty of alternate routes to spice things up.
Just based off the hills on the way back alone, Battery Kemble is not my favorite trail, but it’s still a great and reliable one.