Tidal Basin

No cherry blossom in bloom but still a great place to rest & enjoy the autumn scene & sun. Great place to jog or simply enjoy a peaceful meal.

The tidal basin is a wonderful place to visit. It is most crowded during the cherry blossom watch. The view is awesome from a paddle boat.

Needless to say, this is the landmark to see in DC. Beautiful anytime of the year,

With its shorelines of monuments and spring blossom of cherry trees, the Tidal Basin is a monumental experience.
The Tidal Basin is a 107 acre reservoir with an average depth of ten feet that is within West Potomac Park. The Tidal Basin is located southwest of 15^th Street, south of the National Mall, and northwest of the I-​395/​US 1 bridge. If the National Mall is the east to west spine of the Nation’s Capital, the Tidal Basin is in the southwest corner.
In the Tidal Basin, the tide is high. The Tidal Basin is a hydraulic engineering marvel. It is designed to release an amazing 250 million gallons of water twice a day when the tide is high. From the Potomac River, the inlet gate does the job of taking in the water when the tide is high where the outlet gate at the Washington Channel releases it. However, it isn’t the hydraulic engineering that draws people to the Tidal Basin. It is the infamous spring bloom of the cherry trees that attract people to the Tidal Basin. It is the Home of the Cherry Blossom Festival. The cherry blossom occurs in late March to early April. This is a few months previous to my experience in July 2015.
I would like to interrupt this review with a couple of interesting facts. Fact 1: The original name of The Tidal Basin was Twinning Lake. Fact 2: Water is pumped from the Tidal Basin to fill the Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool. And Fact 3: There are over 3,700 cherry trees along the Tidal Basin Shoreline. Now back to the review.
Most of all people are drawn to the Tidal Basin for its 5 star beauty. It truly is the centerpiece of parkland that reaches the FDR Monument, Martin Luther King Monument, and Jefferson Monument. This is what drew us to the Tidal Basin. We started the day by the White House. From there we walked the National Mall from the Washington Monument west to the Lincoln Memorial. In the not so far distance, we made our way to the walking paths parallel to the Tidal Basin. We’d see the FDR Monument then Jefferson Monument. In the near future I will be reviewing the two monuments. We didn’t see cherry blossoms. We saw an abundance of greenery. On a hot & humid afternoon, we’d take refuge sitting on a bench in the shade enjoying a view that I think would make the President in the White House just across the Tidal Basin to stop and listen. With the geese wading paddle boats paddling below and birds singing in the branches above, I was taking in the panorama framing the Tidal Basin. To my left the Tidal Basin was idyllic merging with green shorelone. In the center a majestic Washington DC featuring the Washington Monument filled up the scenery of a real post card. To the right proudly stood the Jefferson Monument. Occasionally bicyclists would interrupt the mesmerizing views of the Nation’s Capital. Nothing could interrupt the tide of memories that I was making at the Tidal Basin.
Walking was a big part of the experience. If you picture a U, the FDR Monument would be on the top left where the Jefferson Monument would be on the lower right. Within the large spaces of greenery between the two monuments were baseball fields, open space, a bridge, and trees. The only damper to the walk was a deficiency of consession stands. A Seven Eleven or vending machine would of been nice to replenish the thirst that heat & humidity creates.
The Tidal Basin was a monumental experience. When it comes to monuments, Washington DC scenery, greenery, and r&r the tide is high at this five star reservoir.

I’m waaaaaaay to0 lazy to write a review of each of the gorgeous monuments that circle the Tidal Basin, so I’ll lump them all into 1 big review.
There are really only 3 monuments on the Tidal Basin (Jefferson, FDR and MLK)
We walked from the Washington Monument to the Jefferson Memorial to start. Jefferson’s memorial may have been my favorite of them all. The classic Roman Rotunda is surrounding the huge statue of our 3^rd President. The walls are lined with the more famous quotes of his many famous writings. There is a museum underneath the Rotunda as well. This monument is a lot less busy than say Lincoln and I’m not sure why. Jefferson is just as important, excuuuuuuuse him if he didn’t get shot in the head.
If you keep going clockwise then you will run into the FDR monument. This monument is long as hell and spread out just like his presidency. It starts off with the early years and statues of soup lines from the Great Depression. It then proceeds into the New Deal and finally WWII. Plenty of photo ops here as well.
The newest member to the basin is MLK. From the Jefferson Memorial, the MLK monument didn’t look like much but once you get there it’s much more. King is standing tall with arms folded as if to say he’s watching over DC. There are a ton of his famous quotes lined around the monument as well.
The Tidal Basin is a nice detour from The Mall and is less crowded too. Besides the 3 monuments along the way, there is also a paddle boat rental both that is really cool. I’m sure the cherry blossoms are gorgeous when they are in bloom but we were a week too early to see that. I’m sure I’ll be back at some point to check that out.

The Tidal Basin is a beautiful location to get out and enjoy nature. The lake is surrounded by cherry blossom trees which were a gift from Mayor Yukio Ozaki of Tokyo City in 1912. Walking along the lake, you can see the MLK Memorial, the FDR Memorial, and the Jefferson Memorial. Although this can be a lengthy walk, it is well worth it to see all the memorials and enjoy the beautiful atmosphere.

The Tidal Basin in Washington is an absolutely gorgeous beauty spot, especially during D.C.‘s famous cherry blossom season. The cherry blossom trees that people come to see each year line almost every inch of the basin — the result is a truly breathtaking scene as they begin to bloom and transform from green buds to pink and then white flowers. Even if you aren’t in town for the blossoms and the cherry blossom festival, though, the basin is well worth visiting and walking around.
Though the trees get a little duller (i.e. greener) once the blossoms have subsided for the year, the views around the basin are always excellent. On a sunny day the trees and surrounding monuments create lovely reflections in the water, and during a walk around the basin you’ll be able to explore a variety of memorials and enjoy multiple views of each of them from different vantage points. (Notable memorials in this area include the Jefferson Memorial, the relatively new Martin Luther King, Jr. National Memorial, the Franklin Delano Roosevelt Memorial, and the George Mason Memorial.) You’ll also be able to see the Washington Monument and tops of some of the buildings in the National Mall during your stroll here. And if you want to take you basin visit up a notch, visitors can rent paddle boats in the area and enjoy some time out on the water itself. I’ve never actually done this particular activity, but maybe one day I’ll have a chance to!
I’d definitely keep the basin in mind if you want to take a break from D.C.‘s museums and get outside for a bit — between the great memorials surrounding it and the relaxing atmosphere you can find here (when the area isn’t full of cherry blossom viewers anyway) a walk around part or even all the basin can definitely contribute to a memorable and even relaxing day in D.C.

One of the best places in DC to relax (south side). Also great place to have a nice run.

You would be thrived by how vital these gorgeous blossoms can be in one week. Last Saturday, when I visited the tidal basin, all of these cherry blossom trees are still in the green buds stage. It’s so hard to believe in as short as one week, all of them would reach the peak bloom.
Full review with more photos:

This is just a peaceful location to visit and walk.
A gift from Japan, when the Cherry Blossoms are in full bloom its nothing short of spectacular.

A super good place to visit all year. The best time to visit is when the cherry blossoms are coming out. This is a good place to get exercise by walking around the shoreline of the tidal basin. This area is well maintained am is staffed by friendly and helpful rangers at the nearby King, Roosevelt and Jefferson
Memorials.
an

Das Tidal Basin befindet sich zwischen dem Potomac River und dem Washington-​Channel und ist Teil des West-​Potomac Park. Der See hat eine Fläche von ca. 107 Hektar und ist 3 m tief.
Neben dem Tidal Basin liegt das Jefferson Memorial, das Martin Luther King, Jr. National Memorial, das Franklin Delano Roosevelt Memorial und das George Mason Memorial. Die Sehenswürdigkeiten sind alle mit einem gut ausgebauten Fußweg miteinander verbunden. Von hier hat man auch einen wunderschönen Blick auf das Washington Monument.
Sehr schön sind die ca. 3.750 Kirschbäume, die teilweise das Ufer des Tidal Basins säumen. Ein sicherlich wunderschöner Anblick zur Blütezeit, die Ende März und Anfang April stattfindet.
Im Norden befindet sich die Kutz Memorial Bridge, die zu Ehren des Brigadegenerals Charles W. Kutz gebaut wurde. Zum Potomac River und dem Washington-​Channel befinden sich noch die Inlet Bridge und die Outlet Bridge.
Bei der Verleihstation «Tidal Basin Paddelboote» kann man sich ein Boot ausleihen, um den See per Boot zu erkunden. Aufgrund des schönen Wetters haben auch viele Besucher diese Möglichkeit in Anspruch genommen.
Am East Potomac Park befinden sich 320 kostenlose Parkplätze. Wir waren von diesem See wirklich begeistert.