Trails, waterfront, flagship retail and three public golf courses — verified open, August 2026
This is the use-it side of Washington, DC: where the trails actually go, which shops are actually leased, which courses you can actually book. The regulatory picture — TOPA, deed taxes, zoning, historic review — lives on the community guide and is not repeated here. Everything below was checked in August 2026 against the operator's or the agency's own listing, and where something is closed or only half open, it says so. A guide that sends you to a locked gate is worse than no guide. Parks and public land lead, because they do not close.
Rock Creek Park covers 1,754 acres running down the spine of upper Northwest, and the National Park Service counts more than 32 miles of hiking trails and paths inside it. Thirteen of those miles are bridle trails, open to riders bringing their own horse — the concession stable that once ran lessons there, the Rock Creek Park Horse Center on Glover Road, closed in 2025 and had not reopened as of August 2026, so plan on trails without a barn. The park also holds the William H.G. FitzGerald Tennis Center, home of the DC Open, which is the only combined ATP 500 and WTA 500 tournament in the world and was played there again in 2026, Taylor Fritz and Alexandra Eala taking the singles titles. Rock Creek Park Golf sits inside the park at 6100 16th Street NW. Get in from 16th Street NW, Beach Drive or Connecticut Avenue.
Mile zero of the Chesapeake & Ohio Canal towpath is in Georgetown, and from there it runs 184.5 miles to Cumberland, Maryland, through 74 lift locks and 605 feet of elevation change. You do not have to do all of it; the first miles out of Georgetown are flat and shaded and make an easy out-and-back. Parallel to it, the Capital Crescent Trail runs seven finished miles from Georgetown to Bethesda on an old rail bed — ten feet of asphalt with a stone-dust jogging shoulder alongside. As of August 2026 the Bethesda-to-Silver Spring section is still closed for Purple Line construction, with a signed detour in place. Theodore Roosevelt Island, 88.5 acres reached by footbridge from the George Washington Memorial Parkway on the Virginia side, carries a 1.5-mile Swamp Trail, a three-quarter-mile Upland Trail and a third-of-a-mile Woods Trail through the memorial plaza. Thompson Boat Center and Key Bridge Boathouse at 3500 Water Street NW both rent kayaks, canoes and paddleboards and were operating in 2026.
DDOT reports 12 of an eventual 20 miles of the Anacostia Riverwalk Trail open, tying together the Navy Yard, Nationals Park, historic Anacostia and the RFK grounds on both banks. Anacostia Park at 1900 Anacostia Drive SE has a covered open-air skating pavilion, tennis and basketball courts, reservable athletic fields and picnic areas, a paved multi-use trail and marina access. Kenilworth Park and Aquatic Gardens at 1550 Anacostia Avenue NE is a pond system of water lilies and lotus with more than 250 bird species recorded on it; the lotus peak in high summer. And the United States National Arboretum spreads 446 acres off New York Avenue NE — grounds open 8am to 5pm every day of the year except Christmas, admission free, parking on the grounds free, with the National Bonsai & Penjing Museum open 10 to 4 daily.
CityCenterDC, on the blocks around 9th and H NW, is where the flagship luxury sits. Verified on the centre's own directory in August 2026: Hermès, Louis Vuitton, Dior, Chanel, Gucci, Bulgari, Tiffany & Co., Burberry, Loro Piana, Brunello Cucinelli, Giorgio Armani, Brioni, Ferragamo, Moncler, Christian Louboutin, David Yurman, Akris, Breitling, Longchamp, Stefano Ricci, Paul Stuart, Scanlan Theodore, Arc'teryx and Tumi, with the Conrad hotel above it. Georgetown is the other pole and a different animal — the business district counts 470-plus businesses along M Street and Wisconsin Avenue in nineteenth-century storefronts, Apple at 1229 Wisconsin Avenue NW among them. The Wharf gives you a mile of Potomac frontage, 550 boat slips and four public piers, and at 1100 Maine Avenue SW the Municipal Fish Market, trading since 1805 and open daily. Union Market District at 1309 5th Street NE runs 50-plus independent merchants under one roof, with Trader Joe's, Politics & Prose, Warby Parker, the La Cosecha Latin American marketplace and the Angelika Film Center around it. Getting to each is its own problem: CityCenterDC sits between Metro Center and Gallery Place; Georgetown has no Metro station of its own, so it is Rosslyn or Foggy Bottom and a walk, or Capital Bikeshare; The Wharf lists five Metro lines within reach plus water taxi service and three underground garages; Union Market is a short walk from NoMa-Gallaudet U.
All three of the District's public courses are operated by the National Links Trust, and the Interior Department announced a new long-term lease covering Langston and Rock Creek on 8 May 2026. East Potomac Golf Links at 972 Ohio Drive SW is the largest: 27 holes in three courses — the Blue at 18 holes, par 72, 6,599 yards on a Walter Travis routing; the White nine at par 33 and 2,420 yards; the Red nine at par 27 and 1,148 yards — plus a two-story, 100-stall driving range with 50 covered and heated bays, over 18,000 square feet of putting green, and mini golf. Langston at 2600 Benning Road NE is 18 holes at par 72, built in 1939 on the west bank of the Anacostia and inducted into the National Black Golf Hall of Fame in 2013; Melva's Grille is in the clubhouse. Rock Creek Park Golf is playing its front nine only as of August 2026 — par 65 over 4,961 yards on the William Flynn design, with a five-hole loop also open — and the back nine is closed until safety renovations are complete. Check the facility status page before you book; all three were listed walking-only, carts by purchase at the pro shop.
Every venue in this section was checked against its own website in August 2026. Old Ebbitt Grill, 675 15th Street NW, opens at 8am weekdays and 9am weekends and runs to 2am, kitchen closing at 1. Martin's Tavern, 1264 Wisconsin Avenue NW, has been family-run since 1933 and serves brunch daily until 4. Cafe Milano at 3251 Prospect Street NW runs 11:30am to 10:30pm Sunday through Wednesday and to 11:30pm Thursday through Saturday, with the bar going later. Fiola Mare sits on the Georgetown waterfront at 3050 K Street NW doing Italian seafood and a tableside carrello del pesce, open seven days. The Anthem at 901 Wharf Street SW has a full calendar running through 2026 and into 2027. The Phillips Collection, 1600 21st Street NW, opens Tuesday to Saturday 10 to 5 and Sunday 11 to 5, closed Mondays, $20 for adults and free for 18 and under. Nationals Park is playing the 2026 season on the Capitol Riverfront beside the Navy Yard.
Openings, hours and tenants were confirmed as of August 2026. Businesses change — check before you make the trip.
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