Rock Creek Park Trail System Gets $1.8M Federal Grant for Accessibility Upgrades

Rock Creek Park will receive $1.8 million in federal funding to make its trail system more accessible to visitors with disabilities and mobility challenges. The National Park Service announced the grant as part of a broader initiative to modernize urban parks in the capital region.Planned improvements include paving 2.4 miles of currently gravel-only trails with accessible surfaces, installing rest stations with benches every quarter-mile, adding wayfinding signage in Braille and Spanish, and building two new ADA-compliant trailheads with parking at Beach Drive and Military Road.Construction is scheduled to begin in early spring with completion expected by fall. The park sees over 2 million visitors annually.