Reno Reservoir, Washington DC

Highpoint Extra Credit
429 feet ASL

This was a highpoint of opportunity. I was on Spring Break/Reading Week at RTS. I decided to take a few days and visit Fredericksburg to see my parents and play in a reunion ultimate frisbee tournament with the JMU Hellfish.

I flew into Washington Dulles and my newly married sister picked me up from the airport. I had about 4 hours to kill until my dad would pick me up to take me to Fredericksburg. I asked my sister to drop me off at the Metro station before she headed off to work.

I bought my $6.50 Metro Day Pass and was on my way. I first headed over to Arlington Cemetery. There I was able to see the changing of the guard at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier, a new memorial for the victims of the 9/11 attack on the Pentagon, and my grandmother's grave.

After Arlington Cemetery, I jumped back on the Metro and a few station hops later, I exited the Red Line - Tenleytown Stop, a mere quarter mile from the highpoint of Washington, DC. The hike to the highpoint was second in difficulty only to Florida's highpoint. I think the hardest point was coming out of the Metro Station, which is one of the deepest I've been in.

The actual highpoint was disappointing. I had read that the highpoint was maintained by the National Park Service and some of the buildings on the property may be. But the property was occupied by the Washington DC water and sewer authority, hence the name Reno Reservoir. Unfortunately, the property is enclosed by fence and barbed wire with numerous no trespassing signs. There were a few older buildings that I wish I could have entered, but alas, that was not the case. So, I walked the perimeter of the fence and considered the highpoint complete.

GPS Data

• You can download the Google Earth Track file (.kmz) of my hike around Reno Reservoir here.
• You can download the GPS Track file (.gpx) of the hike here.

(Note: To download the file, left click on the link and follow the instructions. Right clicking and pressing save as didn't work for me.)

Video of Summit



My Route



Fort Reno, Washington, DC at EveryTrail


Topo Map