Skip to content
Franklin Delano Roosevelt Memorial, Washington, DC

Photo: Carol M. Highsmith, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons. Cropped and resized.

SightseeingHistory BuffIconic

Franklin Delano Roosevelt Memorial

Walk through four open-air rooms of red granite, cascading water and bronze sculpture that trace FDR's four terms beside the Tidal Basin.

West Potomac Park, western shore of the Tidal Basin · Washington, DC

About Franklin Delano Roosevelt Memorial

Landscape architect Lawrence Halprin laid out this 7.5-acre memorial as four outdoor rooms, one for each of Roosevelt's terms, on the western shore of the Tidal Basin. You pass pools and cascades of water, quotations carved into red South Dakota granite, and bronzes of a Depression breadline, FDR with his dog Fala, and Eleanor Roosevelt before the United Nations emblem. It is open to the elements, and the stone can be slippery when wet.

  • #presidential memorial
  • #tidal basin
  • #national mall
  • #monument

Printable maps

What's around here?

The closest stops to Franklin Delano Roosevelt Memorial, ordered by straight-line distance. A few more like it, plus some different kinds of fun so you can build a full day.

  • Sightseeing
    Iconic

    Martin Luther King, Jr. Memorial

    No admission fee

    See Dr. King's 30-foot granite likeness emerge from the Stone of Hope beside the Tidal Basin, ringed by a wall of his words.

    Transit: reachable by public transit

    Steps awayMore like this

  • Sightseeing
    History Buff

    District of Columbia War Memorial

    No admission fee

    Step inside a small marble temple on the National Mall that honors the 499 Washingtonians who died in World War I.

    Transit: reachable by public transit

    0.3 mi awayMore like this

  • Sports & Outdoors
    Iconic

    Tidal Basin

    No admission fee

    Walk the path around a 107-acre basin lined with cherry trees, past the Jefferson, FDR and Martin Luther King, Jr. memorials.

    Transit: reachable by public transit

    0.3 mi awaySwitch it up: Sports & Outdoors

  • Sightseeing
    Iconic

    Korean War Veterans Memorial

    No admission fee

    Walk among 19 stainless steel soldiers on patrol beside a black granite wall etched with the faces of those who served.

    Transit: reachable by public transit

    0.3 mi awayMore like this

  • Sports & Outdoors

    Constitution Gardens

    No admission fee

    A quiet park on the National Mall with a pond and island memorial.

    Transit: reachable by public transit

    0.5 mi awaySwitch it up: Sports & Outdoors

  • Sports & Outdoors

    Lady Bird Johnson Park

    No admission fee

    An island park in the Potomac River near the Pentagon, honoring Lady Bird Johnson and featuring spring bulbs, memorials, and river views.

    0.6 mi awaySwitch it up: Sports & Outdoors