Rock Creek Park: 1,754 Acres in the Middle of D.C.

The most improbable thing in Washington. 1,754 acres of forest running through the center of the city. Standing at the bottom of the valley, you cannot see a building, hear a car, or remember you're four miles from the White House.

The Valley Trail follows the creek south through deciduous forest. In October the tulip poplars go butter-yellow, red maples deliver, and beeches hold their leaves in pale gold. At Pulpit Rock — a boulder jutting over the valley — the canopy stretches unbroken and the only sound is the creek and a pileated woodpecker drumming a solo.

The full north-south walk is nine miles, but dozens of access points let you enter and exit at cross streets. Weekends, portions of Beach Drive close to cars. Come in October for color, May for Virginia bluebells on the floodplain. Come any day you need to remember that even a city devoted to power has a forest that doesn't care about your agenda.