Gravelly Point plane watching

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Gravelly Point plane watching

Photo: Ted Eytan · CC BY-SA 3.0 · Wikimedia Commons

🥾 Hike · Arlington

1.5 hours · Free · No reservation needed

age fit
0–1 yr
★ 5.0
1–3 yrs
★ 5.0
3–5 yrs
★ 5.0
5–10 yrs
★ 4.0
  • 🚗
    About 35 min drive
    From Rockville · Parking: Free lot reachable only from the northbound GW Parkway, packed on sunny weekend afternoons
  • 🍼
    Stroller-friendly
    Flat surfaces — bring the stroller
  • 🌳
    Little shade
    Great on sunny days · Good on cool days · Wind-OK
  • ⏱️
    Typical visit: 1.5 hours
    Best seasons: Spring · Summer · Fall

A big lawn at the north end of Reagan airport's runway, where a plane sweeps 100 feet overhead every two or three minutes on its way down and the roar rattles your chest; a 2-year-old seeing it for the first time will freeze, then demand it a hundred more times. Push the stroller along the Mount Vernon Trail for views of the Potomac and the monuments too.

💡 Tips
Bring a picnic blanket and snacks; planes come right overhead on days when the wind is in your favor (watch which way the people in the lot are looking). Almost no shade, so wear hats in summer and go toward evening. Portable toilets only.

What this place offers

✓plane watching
✓big lawn
✓picnic
✓free
✓bike trail
✓portable toilets
✓kite flying

Featured in these guides

This weekend's weather in Arlington

Forecast at the destination itself (coast and hills often differ from home)

🌦️
Sat 10/17
Showers · 49–61°F · 56% rain
☀️
Sun 10/18
Sunny · 45–63°F · 4% rain

Location

Arlington, Virginia

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