Kenilworth Park & Aquatic Gardens
District of Columbia
Tonight
🌗 46% moon
6.6 h fully dark
Open today
Open
Kenilworth Aquatic Gardens: closed Nov 26 – Nov 26; Kenilworth Aquatic Gardens: closed Dec 25 – Dec 25; Kenilworth Aquatic Gardens: closed Jan 1 – Jan 1
Entrance
Free entry
Vehicle Weight Limit at Kenilworth Aquatic Gardens Entrance
Due to structural conditions at the driveway entrance, access to the Kenilworth Aquatic Gardens main entrance and parking lot is limited to vehicles with a gross vehicle weight rating (GVWR) of 16,000 pounds or less.
Deep within Kenilworth lies an oasis, hidden behind trees and cattails. It's a place where beavers build their homes and turtles sleep on logs. Lotus blooms rise from the muck and lilies sit on the water. The wind dances with the dragonflies, rustling through the trees, carrying the song of the birds until it brushes across your face, fading to a whisper, saying "come join."
Activities
Topics
No entrance fee.
Hours & seasons
Open daily from 8:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m.
⚠ Kenilworth Aquatic Gardens: closed Nov 26 – Nov 26; Kenilworth Aquatic Gardens: closed Dec 25 – Dec 25; Kenilworth Aquatic Gardens: closed Jan 1 – Jan 1
Generally open:
winterspringsummerfallHours are reported by the park — verify before you go.
📞 771-208-1571
✉ keaq_visitorservices@nps.govConditions
Weather now: ☀️ Clear, 86°F
🌦️ 89°/77°
🌦️ 95°/74°
🌦️ 96°/73°
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
Junior Ranger Programs at National Capital Parks - East
Collect all the National Capital Parks - East Passport Stamps
Orange Line - DC Metro · 1 mi
Take a walk through Kenilworth Park and Aquatic Gardens
Become a Kenilworth Aquatic Gardens Junior Ranger
Picnic at Kenilworth
Go Birding At Kenilworth Park and Aquatic Gardens! · Patient birders can take up to 4 hours to attempt to locate many of our bird species. However, even a casual stroll through the park will result in many bird sightings.
Visitor centers
Visitor Center
Accessibility
13 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 Kenilworth Park & Aquatic Gardens — 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 Kenilworth Park & Aquatic Gardens — each spans a cross-park journey.
Helen Fowler
— Womens History, Horticulturist, BusinesswomanWalter Shaw
— Veteran, Kenilworth Aquatic Gardens, Water LilyWalter “Ranger Mac” McDowney
— Samuel Tilden Award, Black History, Kenilworth Aquatic GardensPassport stamps
Mark the stamps you've collected — they show in your memory and along your routes.
🎫 Visitor Center
Places to see
Information Panel: Beauty and Business
audio
Information Panel: Boardwalk to Tidal Marsh
audio
Information Panel: Flexing the River’s Mussels
audio
Information Panel: Helen Shaw Fowler
audio
Information Panel: Original Hothouses
audio
Information Panel: Preserve and Protect
audio
Information Panel: Welcome to Kenilworth Aquatic Gardens
audio
Kenilworth Aquatic Gardens: Under the Boardwalk
audio
Kenilworth Boardwalk access
audio
Kenilworth Park and Aquatic Gardens
audio
Kenilworth Picnic area
audio
River Trail at Kenilworth Aquatic Gardens
audioAudio & media
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Learn more
The National Park Service congratulates the regional recipients of the 2023 Excellence in Volunteerism Awards. These nominees embody the values of service, engagement, and stewardship fundamental to our national parks.
Habitat fragmentation is a major threat to amphibian communities, especially in National Capital Region parks at risk due to the region's growing urbanization.
The state of ash trees in 2017 in the National Capital Region after more than 10 years of harm from the invasive emerald ash borer.
Emerald ash borer (EAB) has killed most of the 300,000 ash trees in National Capital Region parks since 2014. Fewer than 80,000 living ash trees remain. Some ash-dominated swamps transformed into shrublands as ash root systems re-sprouted after EAB attack. In dry habitats, EAB proved more quickly fatal.
Emerald ash borer are still decimating ash trees in the National Capital Region. Read on for the latest look into the state of ash trees in our parks based on forest monitoring data.
American beech (Fagus grandifolia), the most common tree species in National Capital Area parks, is currently facing the emerging threat of Beech Leaf Disease (BLD).
Learn about the Brood X periodical cicadas that emerged in 2021 throughout the Mid-Atlantic U.S.
What is the future of our forests? A look at forest regeneration capacity in National Capital Area national parks based on 2020 monitoring data.
How Kenilworth Park & Aquatic Gardens 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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VisitorCenter
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Trail
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