Kenilworth Park and Aquatic Gardens is a 700-acre public park located along the Anacostia River waterfront in Washington, D.C.'s northeasternmost corner, near the Maryland state border and the neighborhoods of Kenilworth and Eastland Gardens.

The park's lands were originally purchased in the 1880s by Civil War veteran Walter B. Shaw, who cultivated a commercial collection of water lilies and other plants that reminded him of his native Maine. Following Shaw's death in 1921, his daughter, Helen Shaw Fowler, successfully campaigned for the protection of the gardens by the United States government as a public park facility.

Today, the gardens are overseen by the National Park Service's National Capital Parks-East division and have been listed on the National Register of Historic Places. Visitors can view Shaw's collections of rare water lilies and lotuses or peruse the Kenilworth Marsh, D.C's only remaining tidal marsh habitat. A wide variety of flora and fauna call the park home, including 257 species of birds, 650 species of insects, and a number of native mammal, fish, and reptile species.

1550 Anacostia Ave NE, Washington, DC 20019, Phone: 202-692-6080

Anacostia Park Battery Kemble Park Canal Park The Capitol Hill Parks The Chesapeake and Ohio Canal National Historical Park Constitution Gardens Dumbarton Oaks Fort Dupont Park Fort Reno Park Frederick Douglass National Historic Site Garfield Park The George Mason Memorial Georgetown Waterfront Park John Marshall Park Kenilworth Park and Aquatic Gardens Lincoln Park Meridian Hill Park Montrose Park The National Mall and Memorial Parks The National Museum of American History's Victory Garden President’s Park Rock Creek Park The Yards Theodore Roosevelt Island

Explore more: Washington D.C. > Looking for Some Nature in Washington, DC? Head to These Parks.

Plan Your Trip

Get Ready to Go!

Need some more help?


Go to travel reservations.