Kenilworth Park and Aquatic Gardens

Kenilworth Park and Aquatic Gardens are located on Anacostia Avenue, NE in Washington DC. The park treats visitors with changing water colors year round along with beautiful fall foliage and winter birds.

Visitors can explore the park along one of the boardwalks, river trails or by canoe. The park is known for the age old water and land dance where land, water and wind combine in a spectacular way. The park reflects the history of the rivers and wetlands of the United States and acts to preserve forest and natural scenery.

There are three distinct areas of the park Kenilworth Park features an athletic field and meadow and is open from 8.00am to dusk each day. This area may be closed when road conditions may be hazardous and to prevent damage to the fields that are not open after heavy rain.

Kenilworth Aquatic Gardens are opened from 7.00am to 4.00pm each day and the Kenilworth March can be access by canoe from the river or from the boardwalk and river trail that begins at the edge of Kenilworth Park.

Each plant, bird, animal and insect depends on each other to survive in the park, such as the butterflies have larvae that require a single plant species for food. A marsh is located in the park with wetlands that match the ebb and flow of the Anacostia River and protect the community from flooding, this also protects wild flowers and wildlife beavers have built a ditch in the marshes.

The water gardens were created by a war veteran from Maine. The aquatic garden stated with some water lilies in a small pond, then over the years visitors turned the garden into twenty-eight ponds, this area was purchased by the Federal Government and became a National park to cultivate aquatic plants.

The best time of the year to visit Kenilworth Park is during the spring when the wildflowers are in bloom and summer is the best season for the Aquatic Gardens. The best time of year to view birds is during the winter when the leaves have all fallen from the trees.