Theodore Roosevelt Island Park

Address: Theodore Roosevelt Island (Potomac River, accessible from the GW Parkway / Washington, DC area)

Website: https://www.nps.gov/this

Hours: Open daily sunrise to sunset (park grounds/trails)

Admission: Free entry

Theodore Roosevelt Island is a park and national memorial located on an island in the Potomac River within the District of Columbia. The site commemorates President Theodore Roosevelt and preserves a largely natural riverside landscape.

The island features a formal memorial plaza with a bronze statue of Roosevelt, surrounded by woodland trails, boardwalks, and tidal wetlands that support urban wildlife and birdwatching. Trails wind through mature trees and along streams, offering several short loop routes and interpretive signage.

The memorial elements were created to honor Roosevelt’s conservation legacy, while the island itself has been maintained to reflect native plant communities. The National Park Service administers the site and provides interpretive materials about Roosevelt and the island’s ecology.

The island sits in the Potomac River between the District of Columbia and Arlington, Virginia, and is reached by a footbridge from the Rosslyn neighborhood of Arlington. It is immediately adjacent to the George Washington Memorial Parkway corridor.

• Access: Access is by a pedestrian footbridge from the Rosslyn (Arlington) side of the Potomac River.
• Administration: Managed by the National Park Service as the Theodore Roosevelt Island National Memorial, combining a memorial site with largely natural landscapes inside Washington, D.C.

What to See#

• Memorial plaza: A stone memorial plaza centered on a seated bronze figure of Theodore Roosevelt, set among native plantings and interpretive panels.
• Woodland trails and wetlands: Wooded trails and wetlands across the island that preserve native plant communities and provide routes for walking and birdwatching.

Theodore Roosevelt Island is accessed from the Virginia side via a footbridge off the George Washington Memorial Parkway. If driving, use the GW Parkway (there is a small parking area for the island) and walk the short footbridge onto the island. From the Rosslyn Metro station (Orange/Blue/Silver lines) expect about a 15-20 minute walk to the island access point; there is no direct public transit that drops you at the island itself.

• Access Theodore Roosevelt Island via the pedestrian footbridge off the George Washington Memorial Parkway on the Virginia (Rosslyn) side for the shortest route to the trail loop and memorial plaza.
• Walk the main loop early in the morning for quieter wildlife viewing and better light for photos; keep in mind the island is primarily a natural, trail-based memorial with limited facilities, so plan accordingly.