Skip to content
McCrillis Gardens, Bethesda, MD

Photo: G. Edward Johnson, CC BY 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons. Cropped and resized.

Sports & Outdoors

McCrillis Gardens

A naturalistic five-acre garden in a Bethesda neighborhood, known for shady woodland walks and spring color.

6910 Greentree Road, Bethesda, Maryland 20817 · Bethesda, MD

About McCrillis Gardens

Tucked into a residential Bethesda neighborhood, this naturalistic garden offers shaded woodland paths and bursts of color, especially in spring. Its five acres were donated to the Maryland-National Capital Park and Planning Commission in 1978 by William and Virginia McCrillis and are managed by Brookside Gardens. Winding paths pass ornamental trees and shrubs, along with bulbs, groundcovers and shade-loving perennials that provide color through the year. A pavilion and benches offer places to rest. Visitors cannot park on site; street parking is across the street on Renshaw Drive during daylight hours, and nearby residents ask for courtesy. Photo permits are needed for life-event photography such as weddings or formal portraits, while hobby photography of the plants needs no permit.

  • #gardens
  • #woodland walks
  • #spring blooms
  • #ornamental trees
  • #shade plants

What's around here?

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

  • Sports & Outdoors

    Fernwood Park

    Check prices

    A neighborhood park in Bethesda with a playground, soccer field, two tennis courts, and picnic space.

    Steps awayMore like this

  • Sports & Outdoors

    Bradley Park

    Check prices

    Small Montgomery Parks neighborhood park in Bethesda with a playground, soccer field, tennis courts, and a community garden.

    0.4 mi awayMore like this

  • Sports & Outdoors

    Ayrlawn Park

    Check prices

    A compact Bethesda park with accessible play areas and sports courts and fields.

    1.2 mi awayMore like this

  • Sightseeing
    History Buff

    Clara Barton National Historic Site

    No admission fee

    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.

    2.8 mi awaySwitch it up: Sightseeing

  • Museums

    CIA Museum

    No admission fee

    Collection of declassified intelligence artifacts at CIA Headquarters, viewable mainly online.

    Transit: reachable by public transit

    3.9 mi awaySwitch it up: Museums

  • Museums
    Quirky Fun

    National Museum of Health and Medicine

    No admission fee

    See the bullet that killed Lincoln and centuries of medical specimens at the Army's free museum of medicine just outside Washington.

    4.6 mi awaySwitch it up: Museums

Near McCrillis Gardens

More of the same kind

Keep exploring