View Past Events

Melanie is working on a new book and will schedule events again in the fall of 2025.

Bluebells and Budbreak at Boundary Bridge (Nature Forward)

Leader: Melanie Choukas-Bradley We’re delighted that the author of the award-winning book A Year in Rock Creek Park, and the critically acclaimed City of Trees, will offer her 18th year of Nature Forward walks in the country’s oldest urban national park. Under her expert guidance, you will witness the annual floral miracle of Virginia bluebells...

Arbor Day Walk through the Regional Garden – On-site Tour (U.S. Botanic Garden)

Melanie Choukas-Bradley, Author of Wild Walking: A Guide to Forest Bathing through the Seasons, City of Trees, and other regional nature books   Celebrate Arbor Day by walking through the outdoor Regional Garden with Melanie, award-winning author and D.C. tree expert. Learn to identify leafing and flowering trees of the Mid-Atlantic Piedmont and Coastal Plain...

Spring Tree Walk on the Capitol Grounds with Author Melanie Choukas-Bradley (Politics and Prose)

Join naturalist Melanie Choukas-Bradley, author of City of Trees and several other nature books, for a spring walking tour of historic and botanically diverse trees of the U.S. Capitol Grounds and Arboretum (the new official name of the site). The visit offers the chance to admire trees in springtime splendor including several species of maple and magnolia, century-old...

Forest Bathing Spring Walk at Tregaron Conservancy with Melanie Choukas-Bradley (Politics and Prose)

Join Melanie Choukas-Bradley, author of The Joy of Forest Bathing and A Year in Rock Creek Park, for a spring forest bathing walk through the enchanting Tregaron Conservancy, a woodland garden tucked away in the midst of northwest Washington that has been restored and stewarded by a non-profit organization since 2006. One Friday, May 17th from 9:00 a.m. to 12:00...

Spring on Sugarloaf Mountain (Smithsonian Associates)

Natural beauty and fascinating history await this spring. Spend a day hiking to the summit of Washington, D.C.’s local mountain, a natural treasure less than an hour’s drive from the city. The picturesque and rocky Sugarloaf offers spectacular views of the surrounding countryside of Montgomery and Frederick counties in Maryland. Guided by popular study leader Melanie...

Spring on Sugarloaf Mountain (Smithsonian Associates)

Natural beauty and fascinating history await this spring. Spend a day hiking to the summit of Washington, D.C.’s local mountain, a natural treasure less than an hour’s drive from the city. The picturesque and rocky Sugarloaf offers spectacular views of the surrounding countryside of Montgomery and Frederick counties in Maryland. Guided by popular study leader Melanie...

Spring on Sugarloaf Mountain (Smithsonian Associates)

Natural beauty and fascinating history await this spring. Spend a day hiking to the summit of Washington, D.C.’s local mountain, a natural treasure less than an hour’s drive from the city. The picturesque and rocky Sugarloaf offers spectacular views of the surrounding countryside of Montgomery and Frederick counties in Maryland. Guided by popular study leader Melanie...

Forest Bathing: A Guided Walk along the Rio Grande River Trail

The beauty and wonder of nature and trees can produce mental, emotional, and physical health benefits. Guided forest bathing, or forest therapy, is said to lower blood pressure, pulse rate, and cortisol levels; improve mood; and may even boost our immunity. Join us for morning walks along the Rio Grande River Trail to experience the...

Author Talk – Wild Walking: A Guide to Forest Bathing through the Seasons

Join Capital Nature co-founder Ana Ka'ahanui for a talk with local author, naturalist, certified forest bathing guide and Capital Nature advisor Melanie Choukas-Bradley. Melanie will talk about her newly released book, Wild Walking—A Guide to Forest Bathing Through the Seasons, sharing a brief history and description of forest bathing and its many health benefits. Melanie...

Theodore Roosevelt’s North Dakota: Badlands, Bison, and the Making of a Conservationist – Register with Smithsonian Associates

Fly west and experience the wild beauty of the Dakota Territory that shaped young Theodore Roosevelt’s course as a conservationist and naturalist. Register Here. In 1883, Theodore Roosevelt looked to the Badlands of western North Dakota as a place where he could transform himself from an asthmatic 24-year-old New Yorker into a big-game hunter, rancher,...

If the Forest Could Talk, What Would It Say? Symposium

The Writer's Center 4508 Walsh St, Bethesda MD

Register Here. The Writer’s Center You're invited to the opening symposium of "If The Forest Could Talk, What Would It Say?" by DC-based artist Sophia McCrocklin. Speakers include: Sophia McCrocklin, Rock Creek Conservancy, Jeanne Braha, Executive Director of Rock Creek Conservancy, Brian Joyner of Rock Creek Park, Josh Tulkin of MD Sierra Club, and author...

An Immersion in Nature Japanese Forest Bathing, Urban Style

Register here Shinrin-yoku (translated as “forest bathing”) began in Japan in the 1980s. Rooted in Shinto and Buddhist traditions of reverence for nature, the practice involves a full sensory immersion in the outdoors. Health studies conducted in Japan, Europe, North America, and elsewhere around the world, document the mental and physical health benefits of quiet...