Vigorous Hike for Tuesday 4/22/25: Brookside Gardens to Northwest Branch Trail

[Sydney Dy]

BROOKSIDE GARDENS, WHEATON VALLEY PARK, NORTHWEST BRANCH TRAIL AND RACHEL CARSON GREENWAY TRAIL - 8:15 am, Brookside Gardens Visitors Center.

Start and end at Brookside Gardens -  beautiful manicured gardens (including Aquatic Garden, Butterfly Garden, Rose Garden, Japanese Style Garden, and sculptures) and to Wheaton Regional Park, around Pine Lake on the Wheaton Regional Trail to the Timberdoodle Trail and Wheaton Way and Little Bit Loop. We will then leave the park and continue onto the Northwest Branch (of the Anacostia River) Trail to Colesville Road, returning on the Rachel Carson Greenway Trail (where she wrote Silent Spring) and then back to the Northwest Branch Trail and through Wheaton Regional Park on Wheaton Way, Warbler Way and Pine Lake Trail past Pine Lake and back to Brookside Gardens. The trails in the Park and Northwest Branch can be a bit confusing so likely easier to stay together/ wait up at turns. Anticipate that tulips, dogwoods and azaleas will be the highlights. We will meet at the entrance to the Brookside Gardens Visitors Center, 1800 Glenallan Avenue, Wheaton, MD 20902, 39.058, -77.037 (NOT the conservatory or nature center). (Also less than a mile walk from the Glenmont Metro Station). No entrance fee. Restrooms open about a half hour into the walk and at the end.  16M (easy to make it shorter/ flexible) and approximately 1000 feet of elevation.

https://montgomeryparks.org/parks-and-trails/brookside-gardens/
https://montgomeryparks.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/09/WheatonRegionalPark-Updated_Trails_Letter-Aug31-2023.pdf.

https://montgomeryparks.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/04/Northwest-Branch-Trail-map-2023-0502-letter.pdf

Sydney Dy 410 440 0881

Carpool from Carderock lot, expect about 45 minutes given traffic. Start from the first parking lot at Carderock Recreation Area (38.9723,-77.1996).  Exit the beltway for Clara Barton Parkway West (towards Potomac), in less than a mile exit and follow signs into Carderock Rec Area (for the first parking area turn right and then an immediate left) 

Please let me know if you will meet at carpool (Carderock) or at the trailhead.

Driving directions to Brookside Gardens Visitors Center: From the Capital Beltway, take exit 31A, the Georgia Avenue/ Rt 97 exit and go north 3 miles to Randolph Road. Turn right to go east on Randolph Road and turn right onto Glenallan Avenue at the second traffic light.

Walking directions from Glenmont Metro: East on Randolph Road, R on Glenallen Ave, walk through the entrance and parking lot to the Brookside Gardens Visitors Center.