Tidal Basin Cherry Blossoms
Tidal Basin
A lake ringed by more than 3,000 cherry trees gifted by Tokyo in 1912, reflecting the Jefferson Memorial and Washington Monument. The late-March cherry blossom festival is the city's biggest event each year.
The Tidal Basin is a 43-hectare artificial lake southwest of the National Mall, built to regulate the tides of the Potomac River. In 1912, the mayor of Tokyo gifted 3,020 cherry trees, which were planted along the lakeshore and have symbolized spring in Washington for more than a century. The 3.2-kilometer path around the lake takes about an hour. On the south bank stands the Jefferson Memorial, a rotunda modeled on the Roman Pantheon with a 5.8-meter bronze statue inside, where the night lights and cherry blossom reflections make the classic shot. On the west bank are the FDR Memorial, with four open-air 'rooms' telling the story of his four terms along with a waterfall and sculptures, and the Martin Luther King Jr. Memorial, the 'Stone of Hope' split from the 'Mountain of Despair.' On the east bank, near the Washington Monument and the WWII Memorial, cherry blossoms frame the obelisk. The trees are mainly Yoshino cherries. Peak bloom, when 70% of the blossoms are open, usually falls from late March to early April and lasts only 7 to 10 days. The National Park Service issues a forecast in early March and updates it daily. On peak weekends, hundreds of thousands of people visit each day, so arrive around sunrise (about 6:30 a.m.) for photos, or come in the evening for the lights. The National Cherry Blossom Festival (March 20 to mid-April) features parades, a kite festival and fireworks. Pedal boats can be rented on the lake for about $30 to $40 per hour. Outside cherry season, the Tidal Basin is still a good place for walks and to see the memorials, and there is red foliage along the shore in autumn. Admission is free and open all day. During cherry season, some root areas along the shore are off-limits to walking, and picking blossoms is prohibited and subject to fines. Getting there: it is a 15-minute walk from Smithsonian Metro station, with free shuttle buses during cherry season, and there is almost no parking nearby.
Opening hours
All day; Jefferson Memorial open 24 hours
Nearby sights
- Thomas Jefferson Memorial
- Martin Luther King Jr. Memorial
- National World War II Memorial
- Washington Monument
- United States Holocaust Memorial Museum
- National Museum of African American History and Culture
- Vietnam Veterans Memorial
- National Museum of American History