Discussion: DC Travel and Running Advice

We're heading from New Haven to the Rally for Truthiness this weekend, and I was wondering if some of you could suggest (particularly if you're NY based):

1) The best route to go from New Haven to DC on a Friday evening (don't need to be told how silly this is, we know that "best" probably isn't applicable to any route at this time!). For example, should we go to Teppan Zee and further out West?

2) A nice place to run when I get there. We're staying just by Rock Creek Park, is that nice?

You guys are lucky it's not a Yanks-Phils WS.

Watch out for traffic to and from the Jets game Sunday afternoon.

2) Rock Creek Park is a wonderful place to run. There are lots of trails, if that's your preference, and parts of it are closed to vehicle traffic on the weekends so you can run and bike on the roads without worrying about cars. There's also an orienteering map of the park, but, um, we haven't been able to use it for years so there aren't a lot of copies around anymore. :-( A lot of the woods are pleasant for running in, especially near the Nature Center, but be warned that the park has in writing that orienteering is not allowed (long, sad, story).
Lots of people also run around the Mall area, and along the river. If you like flat pavement or gravel, and don't mind stopping for traffic and tourists, that's a nice choice.
1) Others may have better ideas, but if it were me, I'd just take the Tappan Zee & I-87 to either the Palisades Parkway or I-287 south all the way to the NJ Turnpike, avoiding the tolls and traffic around the city. The PIP is nice, but a bit tricky getting onto the turnpike from there -- watch the signs carefully. We usually get off at Exit 7 (Fort Dix) and make our way to I-295, which parallels the turnpike but is free and less busy. That takes you almost all the way to the Delaware Memorial Bridge, merging with the turnpike right before the bridge.
There really isn't a good alternative to I-95 south to DC. There are a few roads that will help get you there (e.g., the Baltimore Washington Parkway) but there's no continuous route. I'd say that for the most part you'll be going against traffic, except that the Restore Sanity/Fear rally is looking like it's going to be bringing in a lot of people, so the last part, especially, could be congested.
I'm jealous! I'd have loved to have gone, but we were already committed to help at an annual Boy Scout o' event. Enjoy!

Thanks Peggy, that's really helpful! I'm pretty excited as this will be the first time I've been south of New York. We were thinking of something like the route you describe above, so I'm glad we're thinking along the right lines!

Mid-Atlantic Champs on Sunday. W-Bl plus relay. Get right on I-81 from the meet to 78, 80 or 84 on your return to avoid all of NY metro. :)

I wish! But Rob is going home in a couple of weeks so we've got some non-orienteering stuff planned. Thanks though.

I'm guessing your hotel is most likely around Woodley Park somewhere. If so, I'd advise heading north on any run in Rock Creek Park. Even if your hotel is elsewhere, the nicest parts of the RCP trail network are from north of Pierce Mill to the DC-Maryland line. The stretch on trail along the west bank of the creek south of Military Road is especially nice scenery-wise. The Valley Trail a bit further up the slopes on the opposite side of the creek is also very nice. The park has a decent trail map online.

We're actually staying at a friend's place on Connecticut Avenue North NW, so we're very close to the South end of the Park. So that works out just great.

take the Tappan Zee & I-87 to either the Palisades Parkway or I-287 south all the way to the NJ Turnpike,

I'm not sure how adverse you are to payng tolls -- probably not so much if you have an E-ZPass -- but the Garden State Parkway (GSP), is probably the shortest all-freeway route from I-87/287/NYThwy to the NJTpk. Between the two, you will encounter 2 $1.00 tolls. Using the PIP brings you back toward the east and very close to the G W Bridge, an area to be avoided. I-287 runs well toward the west, then turns east, and slightly north before meeting the NJTpk, adding about 25 miles.

Regardless of which way you go, tune in to WINS (1010AM) and/or WCBS (880AM), with traffic on the "1s" and "8s", respectively.

If accidents or other problems are killing the GSP & NJTpk in North Jersey -- and problems on one usually impact the other -- you might want to consider the reverse of the route eddie suggested. It would avoid NYC, Philly, Wilmington and Baltimore, possibly not saving time, but definitely saving your sanity.

I guess since you asked for directions you are planning to drive... but there's always Acela for a much more pleasant experience.

There's three of us, so it's cheaper to drive unfortunately. I've just made a ten hour music playlist to keep us company :)

Prince William Forest south of DC is an excellent place to run. Several of us will be there for Search and Rescue training all weekend. I have a print of a blue course from an event there a couple years ago. Email me directly & I'll give you my cell #.

The Marine Corps Marathon is this Sunday as well with 30,000 runners in DC. Part of the normal route is under construction, so the race will pass along/thru part of the mall which could make touristy access difficult. And I guess your rally is Saturday? So DC will be a ZOO (as if it isn't always).

WTOP 103.5 is excellent for traffic as you approach DC (thanks to GuyOlsen for reminding me). KYW 1060am in Philadelphia and WCBS 880am in NYC area are suggestions as well.

Thanks for all the advice people - it sounds like we might not want to hang around on Sunday for as long as we thought! Will let you know how it goes...

Prince William Forest is indeed a nice place to run, but it's 40+ minutes south of DC, the opposite direction you'll want to be heading, and with the marathon going on, you won't want to have to deal with coming back through DC. A nice morning run in Rock Creek, using Jon T's trail suggestions, would be a good idea. Then get out of town before the marathon ends, and you'll be fine.

I personally am not a fan of the Garden State Parkway, as it is, at least in my memory, narrow, winding, and the toll booths are annoying (maybe it's better now if they have EZ Pass lanes), with lots of traffic. While Guy is correct about the detours the PIP & I-287 take -- I-287 especially (great for Harriman start points, not as great for points further east) -- I have never had an issue with the GW Bridge when heading south. Might be worthwhile when heading north. But the PIP is so *pretty*!!
The total-avoidance of all the metro areas route is always an option, but it is significantly longer. And it doesn't avoid Baltimore entirely, as it uses the Balto beltway. But it IS toll-free (depending on which bridge you cross the Delaware on; probably both are tolls one-way but I don't know which direction the toll is). It may be worth it if traffic is horrible.

We'll all be interested in hearing your report!

Not sure if you know Corinne Porter but she is also going to the Rally with her boyfriend and she lives in DC in the Columbia Heights area (just south of Silver Springs) You can contact her through her email corinne.l.porter@gmail.com. Have a great trip and be safe.

All that NJ talk might have been moot -- I heard that I-95 southbound in CT, this afternoon and evening, was FUBAR. In that case, the Merritt would not be much better. I-84 - I-81 - PA 581 - US-15 - I-270 might indeed have been the fastest route today (and avoids Balto).

Gee, I-95 south of DC was FUBAR too. Glad I only had to go a couple exits, counter-flow.

Well, we were lucky to have an iPhone with the relatively accurate google traffic on it, so we only got caught out a couple of times! We managed to escape 95 in CT, and the Merritt Parkway was actually fine, so that was great. We went for Teppan Zee, 287 then back to the New Jersey turnpike, where we hit an hour long wait at a toll booth (our driver had no Easy Pass - what?!). There was a second huge wait in Delaware but we schooched off onto the 40, which by 1am was very quiet!

Coming back we decided we were late enough to take George Washington, and that was a complete nightmare. 1.5 hours to get over the bridge - certainly didn't feel like paying $8 for the pleasure of that queue once we made it to the Toll Booths! Easy Pass would't have helped much either, the expressway was queuing miles back (didn't look as bad as it was on google!), so you could only escape through the faster lanes at the very end.

So, Teppan Zee it will be in the future I think! I really loved DC, but found the rally a bit of a disappointment - the fact there was so many people was great, but being pretty small I saw absolutely nothing, and whenever the wind blew heard no sound either. What I did hear was pantomime comedy with no real message - we left before the final address but people have said that was better.

Rocky Creek State Park was fantastic! I ran for 70 mins and only explored a fraction - it's a shame there's no orienteering allowed. There were times in DC that I felt I was back home in Europe - I would definitely like to go back. Next time though, I'll listen to Cristina and take the train ;)