Amazing park with great playground, horses, and sports facilities. I am suprised I did not know…read moreabout this park until I was invited for a charity walk here.

Love this park and it's trails. Nice bit of nature hidden between residential areas and highways…read more Easy walking with nature views: trees, a little body of water and deer up close and personal. It's quiet and people walking the trail are friendly the couple of times I've been. Ample parking in the parking lot as well.

This is a hidden gem in downtown Bethesda. The address was not previously added, so it would have…read morebeen hard to find. I came today for Planet Bethesda. It was a plant-based eco friendly event. I learned about it from a news segment on Friday. I am so glad I came. Parking is easy and free on Sat/Sun in the open lot off Willow Street (behind the Montgomery Farm Women's Cooperative Market. The park offers lots of tables under mature trees for shade. There is a playground area at the far side for the little ones. There were plant based food options from various Bethesda vendors. Also, other vendors selling or giving away sample items. This would be a great place to have a family picnic. Very urban area without the noise and traffic. I highly recommend you visit soon!

I almost always bring my lunch back to the office and eat at my desk. Yes, I am aware of how lame…read morethis is. However, I wanted to take advantage of the weather while it's still wonderfully breezy out minus any humidity. So I bought my lunch at the Brown Bag and walked across the street to Elm Street Park. (I should note that the map is inaccurate. It's actually on the other side of Elm - across from Wisconsin Ave, just 1 block.) There is a playground on the left side for the little ones to run around and there are plenty of tables on both sides of the path to sit and enjoy lunch under the trees. The tables are small - which are perfect if you're dining solo - but I mean, there's room for 4 to sit. Over a little further on the right side of the path, there's a little gazebo and larger picnic tables. I can totally see myself coming here during my lunch break til it gets too cold to eat outside. ** Pictures to follow after I remember to take my camera with me next time **

My family and I enjoyed playing at the playground the other weekend. It is nice that it is fully…read moreenclosed and has some benches. There's toddler-sized playground equipment in the shape of a firetruck, which was pretty perfect for my kiddos. Otherwise, there's another piece that is much bigger and definitely aimed at bigger kids. It includes a very steep slide, zip line, and fully enclosed winding slide. There are also four swings, two for younger kids and two for older kids. It's not the biggest playground, but it definitely does the trick! Parking in the library on a Sunday was clutch! It's a handy option, though I don't love having to walk along the busy road to get there.

This little gem is strictly a "kids-only" type of park. Completely re-done last year, it has…read moreswings, climbing things and all w/in a fenced area so kids don't run off into the bordering city streets. It's also a great little spot for brown-bag lunchers with a few picnic tables w/seats and a charming open-air gazebo. Not much on grass but big on shade trees,- this is a nice place to rest after shopping in Bethesda Row a block away.

Very kid friendly. There's a long walking path, playground for the kiddos, and a few tennis courts…read more There is not too much parking but if you get there at a decent time, you'll find something. Not sure if they have overflow parking.

I grew up in this neighborhood. Great expansive park. Playgrounds, tennis courts, basketball…read morecourts, baseball diamonds, and large open green fields. Walked my dog here yesterday and reminisced on all the good times. A really nice park situated in a quiet safe neighborhood. Great place for families, children, and grown ups alike to come run around or relax at.

I love enjoying the glorious stroll through this neighborhood park on a daily basis. It's tucked…read moreaway right between Willard and River Road where you wouldn't notice it unless you live nearby. There is virtually no rubbish on the grounds making it ideal to walk any sort of dogs. It also has a lovely stream and woody spots for a quick stimulating dog walk. It certainly provides a lot for the dogs to sniff. It's amazing how peaceful and quiet it is given how busy the surrounding area is due to near constant traffic. The only downside perhaps is parking for those who wouldn't be walking to this park or doesn't live nearby. But other than that, I can't imagine anybody complaining about this well maintained park.

A nice nature walk with a play ground and some fitness areas. There is also a basketball…read morehalf-court. Several benches to sit and enjoy the babbling steam. The walk way is paved for anyone with mobility issues.

Nestled in the middle of the Spring Valley neighborhood is a public park that's taken care of by…read morethe community. With flowers lining the path, the trail is a loop around small pools of water, some with goldfish. It's open 24/7.

A great park with lots of options for fun: 2 tennis courts, hoops for adults and kids, playground,…read morebaseball field, dog run, and more. Having lived overseas where such amenities are simply not available or only to those who can pay, I say 'thank you' for providing taxpayers with something we can use every day.

This is a fantastic recreation center that has it all. From an inside classroom to a posh grass…read moresoftball field complete with folding chairs instead of bleachers, one of the best toddler spray parks in the city, multiple climbing gyms, sandboxes, tennis courts, swings for kids and toddlers, and a basketball court. It has restrooms and a The splash park is full of not-bad plastic toys (cars, things people drop off at the park) which are not even broken, unlike most parks around here. This is a really nice thing for kids, but what makes it better is that the splashing isn't huge. It's just the right amount of water for a toddler. The play structures are also the perfect toddler size as well. And the entire place is fenced in with multiple rounds of fencing. There is so much fencing that many of the nannies are not interested in even closing the toddler park fence. For me this is a place I can relax as a parent. There's almost nothing that can harm my kids here, except for the yucky goldfish and cheerios from the other kids, ha ha. The patrons are what you would expect: extreme helicopter parents and nannies. They are more high strung than most, but hey that's what you get with the neighborhood. All in all, this place was amazing and I look forward to coming back.

The seminary (or "castle" as I called it in high school, for apparently no reason, because castle…read moreis maybe the one type of building that the campus doesn't have) lived rent free in my mind when I was younger. It's just a crazy place, especially tucked right by Silver Spring, right by 16th and Georgia, and yet few people know it exists. Starting out as an inn and then a finishing school for girls, there's a Japanese pagoda, a Dutch windmill, a Parthenon looking building, and so many beautiful statues. After WWII it got taken over by the army. And then it slowly decayed. Save the Seminary, the organization whose mission is to restore the seminary, did a pretty damn good job at restoring the buildings, the ballroom, and the statutes. They do free walk tours, and most insane, the structures are now homes, where actual human beings live. I can't quite wrap my head around it, but if you have an extra mil lying around one of these places could be yours (if any of them happen to be up for sale).

Forest Glen, Maryland: Do you know where Forest Glen Maryland is?…read more Take a look at this map (This is the point of the presentation where I wish I could embed a map into my review) Well, imagine an isosceles triangle. Those are the ones that have a corner with 70 degrees- another corner with 70 degrees- and the third corner with 40 degrees. But make it stand straight up... like a pyramid. Ok, just think of a pyramid... but just one side, not like an actual 3D Pyramid. Ok... ya know what, think of a Yield Sign. There we go, just think of a Yield sign. The bottom left corner is Bethesda, the bottom right corner is Silver Spring and the top of the Yield sign is Forest Glen. See, that was so much easier than just showing you a map. In that time, I hope that you've just googled Forest Glen and seen exactly where it is. So in Forest Glen there is an enormous building on Linden Lane and you'll see a Japanese Pagoda right in front of it. Yes, a true to form, authentic color paint, bamboo what not Japanese Freakin' Pagoda. That'll make you say something like "This Is the FR*&*in' Catalina Wine Mixer!".. of buildings. And then you'll say, "Why have I never seen this before." Here's some real short history. I did the research for you. The building was built as a Hotel/ Vacation Resort in 1887 for DC vacationers: Ye Old Forest Inn. But that didn't work out. Apparently the people who ran it were less than savvy. Then in 1894 it became an all girls school. And it remained that way until 1942. But, as you remember, we were dragged into WW2 in 1942 after Pearl Harbor happened December 7th 1941 "A Day Which Will Live In Infamy". Quick side note. In addition to Pearl Harbor the Japanese on that day also attacked the following: American ships the high seas between San Francisco and Honolulu, Malaya, Hong Kong, Guam, the Philippine Islands,Wake Island. And the next morning, the Japanese attacked Midway Island. Something I didn't know because everything is really ethnocentric here in America. And now back to National Park Seminary So the building in 1942 became sort of an Annex for Walter Reed and was controlled by the army. But in 1977 most of the buildings were left abandoned. Which essentially became a playground ( a very expensive and beautiful playground) for vandals. After years of neglect and vandalism a company called The Alexander Company helped in it's rehabilitation for the purpose of preserving this listing on the "National Register of Historic Places." For a very long time an organization called SOS (Save Our Seminary) has been working to raise money to preserve and repair so many of the historic buildings, structures, and intricate details that make this place so G-D Da*n Magical! The building used to face railroad tracks where people would travel off the railroad and right onto the campus. Now, that railroad is 495 so the front faces a non accessible point. Coming up from Linden, you're actually coming from the back and don't get to see the entire majesty of what the Seminary is. Quick info: National Park Seminary- the name After Ye Old Forest Inn the school took notice of Rock Creek Park which was constructed and opened during that time ( an attraction that many people were coming to see), the spot was named "National Park" in reference to being so close to that site. The Seminary comes from the older meaning of seminary which is: "a school of secondary or higher level for young women." So the campus is big 23 acres. And on that campus lives several sorority houses done in an international theme ( I KNOW! Awesome!) Which explains the Japanese Pagoda- some of the others include a : "Dutch windmill, a Swiss chalet, an Italian villa, An American Bungalow and an English castle" Quick note- In 1936 the National Park Seminary was renamed National Park College and served as a very prestigious woman's college for a while. The name was changed back to National Park Seminary after it was reacquired from the army. The campus is brilliant and beautiful. Large sculptures decorate the beautiful buildings at almost every turn. A mix of styles inside the buildings. Especially the wonderful ballroom. The site is just something to behold. They do tours on Every 4th Saturday at 1PM Here are the rest for 2014 - They start at 1PM and are 5 bucks per person Saturday, June 28 Saturday, July 26 Sunday, August 3 Saturday, August 23 Saturday, September 27 Saturday, October 25 Saturday, November 22

I remember coming to this park way back when I was a young lad. It's a pretty nice park, both for…read moreadults and kids. There are a bunch of playground sets (although they're the lame plastic kind, not the old school burn-your-hands-and-bum-in-the-summer-heat metal kind), two tennis courts that are in pretty great shape, a basketball court and a big field for sports, walking the dog, whatever. The grass in some parts is a little dilapidated, but it's probably for the same reason the Mall has dying grass; little kids running around on it all day will cause a lot of wear and tear. There's also a parking lot which is convenient, but it gets packed during "peak hours" (around noon and when schools get out it seems). No sketchy characters to be found at any hour!

Despite the signs, a great place to let your dog run off leash and used by many dog owners for this…read morepurpose. There's a big field below the parking lot that is rarely used by humans. It's also next to Battery Bailey for some good Civil War history.