George Washington Memorial Parkway
No admission feeA scenic driving route along the Potomac that connects many historic and natural sites.

Photo: Eric T Gunther, CC BY 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons. Cropped and resized.
Preserved Civil War earthwork fort protecting the Chain Bridge approach to Washington, D.C.
George Washington Memorial Parkway, between Spout Run Parkway and VA-123 exits, Virginia · McLean, VA
Fort Marcy was hastily built during the Civil War to guard the Chain Bridge route into Washington, D.C., alongside its companion, Fort Ethan Allen. Its earthen walls, trenches, rifle pits, and parade ground rank among the best preserved defenses from that period. Visitors can follow a self-guided walk linking the two forts. The site also forms part of a wildlife corridor around the nation's capital. Climbing or walking on the fragile earthworks is not allowed.
The closest stops to Fort Marcy Park, ordered by straight-line distance. A few more like it, plus some different kinds of fun so you can build a full day.
A scenic driving route along the Potomac that connects many historic and natural sites.
1.2 mi awaySwitch it up: Sports & Outdoors
A preserved Civil War artillery battery in Northwest Washington, D.C., now a National Park Service site with views toward the Potomac.
1.6 mi awaySwitch it up: Sports & Outdoors
Collection of declassified intelligence artifacts at CIA Headquarters, viewable mainly online.
Transit: reachable by public transit
1.7 mi awaySwitch it up: Museums
Take a free ranger tour of the big yellow Glen Echo house where Red Cross founder Clara Barton lived and worked her last 15 years.
2.5 mi awayMore like this
Stroll Massachusetts Avenue past Gilded Age mansions turned embassies, with flags and statues of world figures on the way.
Transit: reachable by public transit
3.2 mi awayMore like this
Sit on limestone benches carved with Kahlil Gibran's words beside a star-shaped fountain in a quiet wooded garden on Embassy Row.
3.5 mi awayMore like this