Dupont Circle to Rosslyn & Alexandria

I agree with jrenaut here on the route to the 14th St bridge. When passing the Washington Monument, since it is harder to keep up with traffic as it is a little bit uphill, if you are uncomfortable being in traffic on that stretch, you can always hop onto the sidewalk where it is nice and wide. Remember to follow the signs for I-395 so you don’t accidentally turn onto Independence Ave (I’ve tricked myself into doing this before). Also, be careful when approaching the intersection with Maine because the road is in terrible condition with weird bumps and ruts that make maneuvering in traffic a bit dangerous.

@jrenaut 39718 wrote:

Once you cross the bridge, head to the right on the MVT and you’ll end up in Rosslyn. Head left and you’ll get to Alexandria.

Just a minor clarification on this one (even though it’s nitpicky and I understand what you mean, I just want to make sure). After crossing the 14th St bridge, you’ll get to a T-intersection with the MVT where turning left will take you north towards Rosslyn and turning right will take you south towards Alexandria.

P.S. – For an additional detour, after turning onto Maine and following the sidewalk, after crossing a short bridge take the next left onto Ohio Dr and into East Potomac Park so that you can do one loop at Hains Point. As a new member on the forum, you should know that it is mandatory to do the Hains Point loop at least once every time one passes through that area

P.P.S. – Since you are new to the area, the Hains Point loop is also part of the path you can take to see the cherry blossoms when they are in bloom this spring (March-April)

@bobco85 39723 wrote:

P.S. – For an additional detour, after turning onto Maine and following the sidewalk, after crossing a short bridge take the next left onto Ohio Dr and into East Potomac Park so that you can do one loop at Hains Point. As a new member on the forum, you should know that it is mandatory to do the Hains Point loop at least once every time one passes through that area

Every time? I am in serious violation.

I dont use the memorial bridge to get to the mvt because you have to cross the gw parkway with no signal, but I think the memorial bridge is great if you’re headed into “central” arlington – courthouse, clarendon (use the path beside 110 and head past the iwo jima) or pentagon city/crystal city once you figure out the “washington blvd” trail). Otherwise, I’d use 14th street bridge to get to alx and key to get to rosslyn. To get to key safely, id stay north of m on the streets of gtown, then come down on 33. I don’t mind riding with cars there, since its a short stretch and the cars are usually slow, but if it bothers you, you can use the sidewalk there. If you take the road on m, stay in the right hand left turn lane, then turn into the sidepath – cars tend to treat the bridge as a race way.

Most importantly, you’ll want to grab a free Arlington bike map. Its consistently referred to as the best map of Arlington

Good luck and welcome

@JustinW 39727 wrote:

Memorial Bridge is fairly easy to access, and as long as a bit of car-dodging on the VA side can be done safely (to cross the Parkway and access the MVT) then the OP is closer to Rosslyn that way.

To get to Memorial Bridge, use any ~southbound route you are comfortable with, take a right at the National Mall (heading west) and aim just past the Lincoln Memorial.

This is actually a great time of year to explore different routes (weather notwithstanding) since there are so few tourists out and about (on the Mall and elsewhere).

Yep, this is the most scenic route. Be sure to go around the Lincoln on the south side (the left side as you approach the front of the memorial – Abe’s right) and cross the bridge on that side. Then turn left and follow the connector trail to cross the GW Parkway (very very carefully – death awaits there) and then turn left for Rosslyn or right for Alexandria on the GW trail.