Melanie will guide us through some wonderful sensory nature exercises, known as forest bathing. She will guide us in and around The Mother’s Peace Garden within the park.

We’ll hope to catch bloodroot, wild ginger, cut-leafed toothwort and other blooming spring ephemerals as we explore both floodplain and upland woods at a leisurely pace. Time permitting, we’ll do a bit of “forest bathing.”

She shares an overview of the landscape’s fascinating mix of trees, wildflowers, birds, and other wildlife and highlights the island’s history and the legacy of the naturalist and conservationist president it memorializes. The morning also includes pauses for moments of guided forest bathing to quietly soak up the beauty of this wild island set against the capital city.

Enjoy a spring morning walk on a natural oasis in the Potomac with Melanie Choukas-Bradley, the author of the book Finding Solace at Theodore Roosevelt Island. The nearly 2-mile path follows the island’s shore and moves deep into the swamp and tidal inlet along the boardwalk where willows, bald cypresses, and cattails frame views of Washington, D.C.

Enjoy a spring morning walk on a natural oasis in the Potomac with Melanie Choukas-Bradley, the author of the book Finding Solace at Theodore Roosevelt Island. The nearly 2-mile path follows the island’s shore and moves deep into the swamp and tidal inlet along the boardwalk where willows, bald cypresses, and cattails frame views of Washington, D.C.

We’ll witness the springtime foliage and flowers of the island’s remarkable trees and April-blooming wildflowers of the upland woods, floodplain forest, swamp, and tidal marsh. Of course, we’ll keep our eyes open for wood ducks, great blue herons, belted kingfishers, ospreys and bald eagles.

Spend a spring morning exploring the verdant wooded trails of Rock Creek Park with naturalist Melanie Choukas-Bradley.