Rock Creek Park

Rock Creek Park offers a wide range of recreational and respite opportunities for the park visitor while preserving the original biodiversity of the area including rare dragonflies , amphipods , salamanders , fish , interior forest birds , and native plants . However, visitor use may significantly impact the natural resources of the park. Vehicular traffic results in numerous road kills and park roads fragment forests. The spreading of invasive exotic plants by dumping , the creation of unauthorized trails , and dogs off-leash damage resources and threaten fragile forest habitat and biodiversity.

As the first urban park in the National Park Service, Rock Creek Park provides and protects an important ecological resource for the nation’s Capital. Expanding development outside the park continues to increase impervious surfaces , resulting in increased stormwater runoff of sediments and nutrients, creek bed scouring , and reduced groundwater recharge . The park’s large tract of forest (85% of the park is woodland) buffers stormwater impacts and improves water quality within the park by filtering out nutrients and other pollutants.