Rock Creek Park Group Picnic Areas (DC)
This place has sites and nobody may sleep in them.Ask for camping here →
- Right now
- Taking bookingsSites offered on 30 of the next 30 nights read 16:57 UTC
The place
the agency’s own description · what’s there · 15 notices
In the agency’s own words
Eight group picnic areas in Rock Creek Park are available for advance reservation from April 1 through November 30. These picnic areas are available on a first-come, first-served basis from December 1 through March 31. Keep reading
Recreation
Recreational activities in Rock Creek Park include: soccer, picnics, hiking, biking, roller blading, tennis, fishing, horseback riding and attending a concert or park ranger program.
Facilities
All picnic groves are equipped with multiple picnic tables, some also have fireplaces that can be used for cooking. User must provide a cooking grate or other cooking equipment. Picnic groves 1, 6, 13 and 24 have pavilions. Some sites offer access to toilet facilities, though not all. Please refer to specific grove descriptions for details.
Natural Features
Rock Creek Park is truly a gem in our nation's capital. Fresh air, majestic trees, wild animals and the ebb and flow of Rock Creek emanate the delicate aura of the forest.
Nearby Attractions
Rock Creek Park is located near many national monuments and museums in the nation's capital.
What the agency tells you
Maximum Group Size. The maximum number of picnickers per site is 75. Shelters will not accommodate all participants at the same time.
Daylight Hours Only. Rock Creek Park is only open until 7:00 pm or dark during the time of year that it gets dark before 7:00 p.m.
Clean Up. You are responsible for cleaning up after your event. Please bring clear plastic bags. Place bags in or beside trash containers if they are full.
Everything else this campground posts · 12
Fires and Firewood. Permittee must furnish their own charcoal. Collection of wood in the park is prohibited. Fires may only be built in the fireplaces provided or in personal grills. Fires may be prohibited during dry seasons. Do not dump spent charcoal or other ash on the ground. Place ashes in the existing stone fireplaces or trash receptacles when completely extinguished. Don't Move Firewood: Prevent the spread of tree-killing pests by obtaining firewood at or near your destination and burning it on-site. Moving firewood is illegal in some states. Visit www.dontmovefirewood.org to learn more.
Decorations, Specialized Recreation Equipment, etc. Do not attach ribbons, posters, or directional signs to any park object, either natural or man-made. Balloons are prohibited in Rock Creek Park. Additionally, specialized recreation equipment, mechanical or carnival rides such as moon bounces, dunk tanks, photo booths, rides using livestock, and petting zoos and/or displays using live animals are prohibited in Rock Creek Park.
Inspection. Picnic grove sites are subject to inspection by a Park Ranger and/or US Park Police at any time.
Damages. The permittee is responsible for any damages to government property or for any costs incurred by the National Park Service (NPS) or U.S. Park Police resulting from the permittee's event. The NPS will issue a Bill of Collection for costs incurred due to vandalism, negligence or other actions by a permitted group or individuals in the group. The permittee is expected to leave the site in clean condition.
No Commercial Activities (including Catering). Commercial activities are prohibited on National Park Service property. Commercial catering is not permitted on park grounds. Permittee must take receipt of any commercial goods off of park property.
No Solicitation. Solicitation, collection of money and collection of personal information are prohibited on National Park Service property.
Parking. Parking is permitted in designated paved areas only. Vehicles are prohibited from driving or parking on the grass. Parking is limited within Rock Creek Park and is not guaranteed by this permit. Parking is not reserved and will remain open to the public at all times.
No Moving Picnic Tables. Do not move tables between picnic sites.
Permit is for the Picnic Area Only. Permittee's use of the picnic grove may not interfere with other park visitors' use of nearby playground equipment, parking spaces, restroom facilities, or tables and benches outside the picnic grove area.
No Alcohol. Alcoholic beverages are prohibited.
Noise prohibitions. Electric generators and amplified sound systems are prohibited. This includes live bands, DJ, etc.
Volleyball and badminton nets must be self-supporting. Nets may not be tied to any natural or built feature in the park. Supports for the nets may not be driven into the ground. Softball, soccer and similar activities are permitted in areas adjacent to the picnic groves, only temporary goals, bases, backstops and similar equipment may be used.
Facilities
- Toilets
- Flush Toilets
- FLUSH TOILETS on 6 of 16 campsite records
- Drinking water
- Yes
- DRINKING WATER on 2 of 16 campsite records, DRINKING WATER (PEAK SEASON) on 3 of 16 campsite records
Around the campground
- On the water
- Creek
- Biking
- Hiking
- Historic site
- Ranger programs
- Fall color · reported 6 days ago, 7.5 km away
- Minimal color
16 of 32 site-nights open this Friday and Saturdayread 16:57 UTC
The agency files 16 records here and marks every one of them day use, not overnight. On its own record there’s nothing here to spend the night in.
OpenBooked
Watch for a cancellation
Full? Watch it.
One email when a night opens, plus More Than Just Parks dispatches. Unsubscribe any time.
We read recreation.gov once an hour, at 40 minutes past, and write the first time a site in your window is free for the nights you asked for.
Scanners that check every few minutes exist, and most of them charge. This one is free, it reads the same calendar, and it won’t always be first.
We make nothing when you book. The link goes straight to the government.
Every line of the receipt · 14
What you actually pay
Who keeps the booking fee
The agency’s own policy text says the reservation fee and the cancellation processing fee are “retained by the reservation service contractor”, and that a campground concessionaire will decline to refund them because “they did not receive these fees”. Recreation.gov is run under contract by Booz Allen Hamilton. What share of your booking fee the contractor keeps isn’t published in any federal dataset we can read, so we print no number for it. Our reporting on the contract →
How we know this receipt · 5
recreation.gov availability, read 16:57 UTC · rules read Sep 9, 2026 · rates Sep 10, 2026 · How we know all this
The sites
16 records · the site map
All 16 records
| ROCK CREEK PARK PICNIC AREA | Picnic Grove 01 - 3:00PM to 7:00PM | day use | yes | 129 ft | $65 |
| ROCK CREEK PARK PICNIC AREA | Picnic Grove 01 - 9:30AM to 1:30PM | day use | yes | 131 ft | $65 |
| ROCK CREEK PARK PICNIC AREA | Picnic Grove 06 - 3:00PM to 7:00PM | day use | 165 ft | $65 | |
| ROCK CREEK PARK PICNIC AREA | Picnic Grove 06 - 9:30AM to 1:30PM | day use | 171 ft | $65 | |
| ROCK CREEK PARK PICNIC AREA | Picnic Grove 07 - 3:00PM to 7:00PM | day use | 52 ft | $65 | |
| ROCK CREEK PARK PICNIC AREA | Picnic Grove 07 - 9:30AM to 1:30PM | day use | 18 ft | $65 | |
| ROCK CREEK PARK PICNIC AREA | Picnic Grove 08 - 3:00PM to 7:00PM | day use | 74 ft | $65 | |
| ROCK CREEK PARK PICNIC AREA | Picnic Grove 08 - 9:30AM to 1:30PM | day use | 56 ft | $65 | |
| ROCK CREEK PARK PICNIC AREA | Picnic Grove 09 - 3:00PM to 7:00PM | day use | under 10 ft | $65 | |
| ROCK CREEK PARK PICNIC AREA | Picnic Grove 09 - 9:30AM to 1:30PM | day use | 141 ft | $65 | |
| ROCK CREEK PARK PICNIC AREA | Picnic Grove 10 - 3:00PM to 7:00PM | day use | 112 ft | $65 | |
| ROCK CREEK PARK PICNIC AREA | Picnic Grove 10 - 9:30AM to 1:30PM | day use | 106 ft | $65 | |
| ROCK CREEK PARK PICNIC AREA | Picnic Grove 13 - 3:00PM to 7:00PM | day use | 91 ft | $65 | |
| ROCK CREEK PARK PICNIC AREA | Picnic Grove 13 - 9:30AM to 1:30PM | day use | 154 ft | $65 | |
| ROCK CREEK PARK PICNIC AREA | Picnic Grove 24 - 3:00PM to 7:00PM | day use | yes | 331 ft | $65 |
| ROCK CREEK PARK PICNIC AREA | Picnic Grove 24 - 9:30AM to 1:30PM | day use | yes | 301 ft | $65 |
The agency files 16 more records here that aren’t sites for the night. It files them as day use. They’re in the table above, marked for what they are, and none of them is counted as a site.
Getting there
the map and the coordinate · the agency’s directions · the phone number
Where it is
Fort Dupont Park Picnic Areas8.1 mi
Greenbelt CampgroundNational Capital Parks · 8.4 mi
Greenbelt Park Picnic AreasNational Capital Parks · 8.4 mi
Marsden Tract Group Campsite9.2 mi
Swains Lock Hiker-Biker CampsiteChesapeake and Ohio Canal National Historical Park · 12 mi
Fort Hunt Picnic AreasGeorge Washington Memorial Parkway · 17 miRock Creek Park is located in northwest Washington, DC, lying between Connecticut Avenue to the west and 16th Street to the east. For directions to a specific picnic site, please refer to the Rock Creek Park map online at www.nps.gov/rocr .
The weather
the next four days · the thirty-year normal
Next four days, and the thirty-year normal
Forecast
NWS forecast for Washington, DC
Typical weather
Typical October night 47°F, day 68°F.
Coldest month of the year: typical January night 26°F, below freezing. Bring a bag rated colder than that, and expect ice in the water bottle.
Daily high and lowDays with 0.10 in or more
A normal is the 1991-2020 average for the month, not a forecast: about half of all Julys are colder than the July line. The seven-day forecast above answers the other question.
The land, and who answers for it
who answers for it
Who answers for this land
Rock Creek Park Group Picnic Areas (DC) is in District of Columbia’s 98th congressional district. Whoever holds it votes on the laws that decide what happens to this land. See how its representative votes on public lands →