C N E D E R G Our River: The Anacostia Places To Greet Spring Along Our River Article and photos by Bill Matuszeski
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his is a particularly interesting year to welcome the spring. The winter was mild so nature is coming out early. And the corona virus is making us get out and away from others. So where along the Anacostia are those special places to find your way to? Do you want gardens, nature recovering, projects underway, history or places to take the kids? Starting near the Nationals’ Baseball Stadium and heading upstream, here are eight places I recommend. Frederick Douglas Bridge – Old and New
The Site of the Frederick Douglass Bridge
The construction site of the new Frederick Douglass Memorial Bridge, taking South Capitol Street over the Anacostia, is a great place to take the kids and something no adult should miss, as the existing bridge is replaced by a towering set of arches and roadways. You can safely walk the entire site by taking the sidewalk along the south side of the existing bridge, looking up at the cranes and arches hundreds of feet above you and the trucks and machinery way down below. The sidewalk is well-protected from the traffic alongside and the construction is all in clear view downstream from where you stand and look out. Don’t miss it!
Art and Calm Along Poplar Point
Starting at the Douglass Bridge on the Anacostia side and walking under the 11th Street Bridge and up to Pennsylvania Avenue take a quiet stroll along the River, There is little traffic and you are surrounded by natural vegetation emerging from the winter. There are a few art billboards along the way, attractive composite creations capturing nature and river history by Eastern and Ballou High School art students under the direction of artist Tendani Mpulubusi El. 10
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Alone in the City Along Pope Branch
One of the quietest and most remotefeeling spots in the City is in the midst of Anacostia. Pope Branch Park attaches to Fort Davis and Fort Dupont Parks, and the beautifully restored stream flows down to the Anacostia through deep woods and a series of pools and riffles. The only sounds are of running water and wildlife all the way to Minnesota Avenue at M Place NE, where it tunnels below and emerges in a restored Park for a block until dipping below the freeway and entering the River. Last time I entered, I was greeted by a buck and his doe friends, plus an owl luring me upstream with his calls to me. Best to park, enter and head upstream right above Minnesota Avenue. The restoration work was inspired by Dolly Davis and carried out by the same firm that did Springhouse Run in the National Arboretum.
trees that will fast seem native to the Island. Plenty of places to poke around in nature’s gardens.
The Riches of the National Arboretum
The Arboretum (accessible from either New York Avenue or Bladensburg Road via R St. NE) is filled with displays that attract many folks in spring, such as the collection of many different colors and bloom times for cherries and other fruit trees (compared to one shade and a few days along the Nature on Heritage Island Tidal Basin). But the Arboretum’s 450 acres provide numerous opportunities to find peace and quiet. Among my favorites are the view of the City and the Capitol from the top of Mount Hamilton, accessible by paths through the azalea collection or a parking area on the other side; the wilderness woods on the other side of the road from the azalea collection, which feel as though you’re the first to plow through in a Finding Nature on very long time; Fern Valley; the reHeritage Island stored Springhouse Run and the Arboretum Magnolia Heritage is a small island in the trail alongside from New York Aveshadow of Kingman Island. Walking nue to Hickey Run; and the random in from the parking area north of RFK Stadium, most of orchards of flowering trees of all sizes, colors and bloom which has been contimes. For those who can take on the crowds for some real verted to soccer fields rewards, the annual Garden Fair is April 25-26 this year; for local use, Heritage Saturday morning purchases in the tent of the Friends of begins after crossthe National Arboretum are limited to Friends (you can ing the first pedestrijoin on the spot), and Saturday afternoon and Sunday for an bridge. It is much anyone. Incredible offerings and prices! smaller than Kingman, but much more in its natural state, surThe Kenilworth Aquatic Garden rounded by tall grass This is the ultimate peaceful place. These gardens are enorbeds emerging from mous and spread out among many acres of ponds, inlets the River and filled and marshes. They are late-bloomers, but there is always with natural seeps something to please the visitor. Access is from the Anacosand ponds. At the far tia Freeway near the Maryland line, the Deanwood Redline end is the only sign of Metro Station or the Anacostia River Trail. There are selhumanity, a small area dom many visitors, and the paths around the flower ponds recently planted with and wooden walks out over the marshes are a delight. evergreens and other Art Display on Poplar Point
