Rock Creek Greenway

Six months after hiking the upper portion of Rock Creek, I returned to where I left off to hike the middle portion of it. From the southern end of Lake Needwood to the DC border, a paved greeenway runs vaguely parallel to the creek for a little over 14 miles.

While it starts off unpromisingly in a grass field, the trail quickly plunges into the woods. This first section, ending when it emerges from Aspen Hill park, is quite pretty and has the fewest reminders of civilization (other than, you know, it being a paved path).

It then follows somewhat close to the road for a bit, and there is a short, depressing section absolutely overtaken by kudzu. After this, it wends through a series of local parks. There are plenty of athletic fields, views of houses, playgrounds, and short woods sections.

Beach Drive pops up, and for a while the creek and then Beach Drive run alongside it. Luckily, the road is closed to vehicles on weekends, making this another very pretty section, if more heavily used.

The trail then runs into the beltway and veers east. Here, the trail is sandwiched between Beach Drive on one side (open to cars), and the creek and the freeway on the other. Since it was a beautiful fall day, this section was pretty, but it could easily be depressing in other weather.

After passing under the beltway, the trail follows the road closely before entering more small parks. This section is mostly wooded, but there are surprisingly few views of the creek here. Eventually, it dead-ends at a parking lot at the DC line and Rock Creek Park. From there, natural surface trails lead onward.

As a practical note, there are plenty of restroom stops along the way. The biggest logistical difficulty was getting a ride at the end; my Uber driver somehow couldn't find his way there, and I had to cancel and get a Lyft. Public transit is not great in the area.

I did have an exceptionally nice fall day for my hike. I would avoid it on hot summer days, since parts of it are quite open and sunny, but it would also be fine in spring or winter.