George Washington Birthplace National Monument
Virginia
Tonight
🌗 46% moon
6.7 h fully dark
Crowds
low
Open today
Open
Main: closed Nov 26 – Nov 26; Main: closed Dec 25 – Dec 25; Main: closed Jan 1 – Jan 1
Entrance
Free entry
The Picnic Area, Burial Ground, and Potomac River Beach are open Wednesday through Sunday
The Picnic Area, Washington Family Burial Ground, and Potomac River Beach are open Wednesday through Sunday, 9:00 am to 5:00 pm
The Visitor Center is open Wednesday - Sunday from 9:30 a.m. to 4:00 p.m.
The Visitor Center is open Wednesday - Sunday from 9:30 a.m. to 4:00 p.m.
George Washington Birthplace National Monument is located in the Northern Neck of Virginia. It encompasses 551 acres of land where seven generations of the Washington family lived and where George Washington was born in 1732. The park was also central to one of the earliest efforts to memorialize George Washington during the celebration of his bicentennial birth anniversary in 1932.
Activities
Topics
No entrance fee.
Hours & seasons
The Memorial Area is open daily from 9:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m.
⚠ Main: closed Nov 26 – Nov 26; Main: closed Dec 25 – Dec 25; Main: closed Jan 1 – Jan 1
Generally open:
winterspringsummerfallHours are reported by the park — verify before you go.
📞 8042241732
✉ gewa_thst_information@nps.govConditions
Quietest months (fewer crowds): Jan, Feb, Nov, Dec
Typical crowds: low
Weather now: ⛅ Partly cloudy, 89°F
☁️ 92°/76°
☁️ 93°/76°
🌦️ 96°/73°
Typical monthly recreation visits · NPS avg 2023–2025 — orange months are the quietest by crowds.
Quietest months
Relative crowds by month — lighter is quieter; ringed months are the calmest by crowds.
Jan
9%
Feb
12%
Mar
34%
Apr
51%
May
32%
Jun
52%
Jul
100%
Aug
55%
Sep
41%
Oct
40%
Nov
19%
Dec
9%
Log a sky reading
Measured the sky with an SQM meter or app? Add your reading (16 = city glow … 22 = pristine). Opt in under “Travelers like you” to share it on the community leaderboard.
Things to do
Birding at the Birthplace
Attend a George Washington Birthplace Ranger Program
Fishing at the Birthplace
Visiting with Pets · 1 mi
Picnicking at the Birthplace
Explore by bicycle from Westmoreland State Park · <p>Depending on bicycling ability and time spent at various sites. </p>
Bicycle the Northern Neck Heritage Trail · <p>Duration depends on pace, ability, length of stops at points of interest, and whether one chooses to add additional miles and/or overnight stays by riding loops connected to the primary route. One can easily spend 3-4 days in the region, combining bicycling with additional activities such as kayaking, wine-tasting and visits to historic sites and historic towns. </p>
Hiking the Dancing Marsh Loop Trail
Visitor centers
Visitor Center
Accessibility
11 audio-described place(s)
Reported by the park — verify before you go.
Not an official safety source — always defer to NPS.gov and rangers for life-safety decisions.
By the numbers
A visual read on George Washington Birthplace National Monument — its character, trails, sky, and weather.
Park fingerprint
How this park scores across the dimensions travelers care about.
Trail difficulty
Difficulty mix across this park's trails.
3-day forecast
Daily high and low temperatures (°F).
People & stories
Figures tied to George Washington Birthplace National Monument — each spans a cross-park journey.
Annanias Johnson
— Park History, EnslavedGeorge Washington
— Fort Necessity National Battlefield, President, Continental ArmyJohn Washington
— George Washington, DescendantsJosephine Wheelwright Rust
— Colonial Revival, Birthplace, George WashingtonThomas Lincoln Casey
— Rock Creek Park, Engineers, Washington MonumentPassport stamps
Mark the stamps you've collected — they show in your memory and along your routes.
🎫 Visitor Center
Places to see
Building X
audio
Building Y
audio
Colonial Revival Kitchen
Farm Workshop at the Birthplace
audio
History - The Land That Shaped a Legacy
John Washington House Site
Memorial Area at George Washington Birthplace National Monument
audioMonuments — Memory in Stone and Story
Mystery — The Search for the Birthplace
Popes Creek
Potomac River Beach
audio
The Birthplace Monument
audioAudio & media
🎧 Reading of Col. Draper's Report ↗ · 19 mintranscript
🎧 Season 1, Episode 0: Introduction ↗transcript
🎬
🖼
Learn more
View images of the park from the 1930s.
George Washington Birthplace National Monument (GEWA) is located along the tidal reaches of the Potomac River in Westmoreland County, Virginia. The Potomac shoreline delineates the northern boundary of the monument, where three small sub-basins drain into the Potomac. The largest and most significant estuarine resource is Popes Creek, which has restricted flushing with the Potomac and is closely linked to GEWA resources. The monitoring area covers all tidal portions...
View recipients of the National Park Service Freeman Tilden Awards, which recognize outstanding contributions to the practice of interpretation and education by NPS employees.
Ezra B. Thompson was a well-respected commercial photographer, lecturer, government employee, and contractor. He was also the first employee to make motion pictures for the US government. His films and other media were shown everywhere from international expositions to local libraries with equal amazement. For more than 40 years he used his cameras to capture the spectacular and the ordinary. How is it then that his negatives ended up in an estate sale in the 1970s?
Nine short videos chronicle American history through the lens of George Washington's birthday and how it was (or wasn't) celebrated during critical points during his life.
This article explores the relationship between Alexander Hamilton and George Washington.
Arno Cammerer played an important role in the development of George Washington Birthplace. He served as the Director of the National Park Service from 1933 to 1940.
In 1969, George Washington Birthplace National Monument dedicated the Colgate Morgan Horse Farm. This was an endeavor to help provide horses for mounted rangers.
How George Washington Birthplace National Monument connects
This park's activities, topics, location, and on-the-ground places — one hop in the graph. Drag to explore; click an activity, topic, or related park to follow it.
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