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(D) and former trolley right-of-way
The 1.5-mile Battery Kemble Trail extends from the Potomac River, where the Capital
Crescent
Trail (trail A) and C&O Canal Tow Path (trail B)
pass
by Fletcher's Boathouse, to Loughboro and Foxhall Roads, near the American University campus.
A 1995 New York Times article notes that the 57-acre Battery Kemble Park "looks like a
bit of
the Vermont woods" and is the site of an old two-gun battery, placed on a hill during the Civil War
and aimed at Chain Bridge below, in case Jefferson Davis's forces tried to take Capitol Hill.
Look for the junction with the Wesley Heights Trail (Trail
E), about 1
mile from the Potomac River. It
provides a route over to Glover Archbold Park. Battery Kemble Trail fades a bit at its lower end,
between MacArthur Boulevard and Canal Road. It runs along the north side of Battery Kemble
Run, climbing a small embankment at the edge of Canal Road.
At the top of this embankment, you can turn north onto a trail following an old
trolley line (trail
D) above the Potomac River (the trolley ran from Georgetown to
Glen Echo Park for 70 years, until 1961). This trail extends about 0.6 miles to Arizona Avenue,
where you can walk two blocks along
Arizona Avenue to the Capital Crescent Trail (trail A) and C&O Canal Tow Path (trail B). A slightly longer alternate route avoids Arizona Avenue and Canal Roads, which are
hazardous
places to be walking because they lack sidewalks and pedestrian crossings.
(E) Wesley Heights Trail
This 0.8-mile trail crosses a ridge, traversed by Foxhall Road. The ridge separates the Battery Kemble valley from the Foundry Branch valley, which has been preserved in its natural state by Glover Archbold Park. Along the way, the trail follows small streams with beautiful little cataracts, in season. Look for the intersection with Battery Kemble Trail (trail C) at the west end, and Glover Archbold Trail (trail F) at the east end.
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