District of Columbia trails · Valley Trail
Valley Trail
A 2.4-mile out-and-back in District of Columbia, with 154 ft of climbing. Reaches Pulpit Rock. Managed by the National Park Service.
Elevation profile
Most of the climbing sits in the first third — 63% of the ascent, between mile 0.0 and mile 0.8. It gives back about 255 ft along the way, so it rolls rather than climbing steadily.
3-D terrain
USGS 3DEP ELEVATION × ESRI WORLD IMAGERY · VERTICAL ×1.5
Reaches
- Pulpit Rock (arch)
Heads up
Getting there
Meadowlink Trail access. About 11 min drive (4 mi) from Washington. 38.93825, -77.04906 · directions
Daylight at the trailhead
On October 14, 2026 — the day this page was generated — first light reaches this trailhead at 6:49 a.m., the sun rises at 7:16 a.m. and sets at 6:31 p.m., and the last usable light fades about 6:58 p.m. (EDT) — 11 h 15 min of daylight. At about 2.7 mph plus 30 minutes per 1,000 feet of climbing, the 4.8-mile round trip takes roughly 1 h 56 min, so leaving the trailhead at sunrise puts you back around 9:12 a.m. — 9 h 19 min before sunset.
Loop options
- Valley Trail + Potomac Heritage National Scenic Trail — 1.0 mi loop, 143 ft gain
- Valley Trail + Potomac Heritage National Scenic Trail + Black Horse Trail — 2.7 mi loop, 415 ft gain
- Valley Trail + Potomac Heritage National Scenic Trail + Cross Trail #5 — 3.1 mi loop, 587 ft gain