Please Note: This tour is conducted in person and limited to 20 registrants. CDC and Smithsonian Covid-19 guidelines in effect at the time of the program will be followed. Updates will be posted to SmithsonianAssociates.org. Protocols such as distanced seating, mask mandate, and/or proof of vaccination may be required. Read the COVID requirements prior to registration.
Washington D.C.'s bedrock tells a deep time tale of oceanic sedimentation, intense mountain-building, violent shearing deep in the Earth, uplift, erosion, deposition of river gravels, and recent faulting with surprising implications. Join geologist Callan Bentley at the National Zoo and adjacent neighborhoods for a walking tour of key outcrops that illustrate chapters in this history before history.
This 4-hour version covers approximately 3 miles, on paved paths with a brief 25-foot excursion onto a rough, rocky hillside plus a hike along unpaved forest trails through Rock Creek Park to an historic quarry just south of the Massachusetts Avenue Bridge.
Other Date Options
General Information
- The tour is 4 hours in length.
- Tour meets at the Capital Bikeshare rack across from the Rock Creek/Harvard Bridge entrance to the National Zoo.
- Paid parking ($25) may be available at the lower Zoo parking lots, as well as street parking on Harvard Street and Adams Mill Road but is not guaranteed. Metro or rideshare recommended.
- None of the areas on the tour offer shelter from the sun or weather, so dress appropriately for the day’s forecast.
- Alternate forms of transportation or Metro or rideshare recommended.
