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All the United States Virginia Arlington Gravelly Point Park

Gravelly Point Park

This lovely picnic spot featuring thunderous jet landings is an aircraft spotter’s dream.

Arlington, Virginia

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Elliot Carter
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Gravelly Point Park   Ted Eytan/CC BY-SA 3.0
Airplane landing at Reagan National Airport, over Gravelly Point Park   Ted Eytan/CC BY-SA 3.0
Taken at Gravelly Point Park   m01229/CC BY 2.0
Gravelly Point Park   Bex Gregory/CC BY 2.0
Rainy night   bribolio / Atlas Obscura User
Gravelly Point Park map   blimpcaptain / Atlas Obscura User
Gravelly Point Park   Bex Gregory/CC BY 2.0
Gravelly Point Park   Bex Gregory/CC BY 2.0
Gravelly Point Park   Ted Eytan/CC BY-SA 3.0
  Greg Smith / Atlas Obscura User
  IgFan / Atlas Obscura User
  IgFan / Atlas Obscura User
River bank facing DC   Gabe014 / Atlas Obscura User
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A few hundred feet north of Washington National Airport there’s a small grassy park where locals gather to behold the closeup spectacle of commercial aircraft, which come in directly overhead throughout the day.

Aircraft approach Washington over the Potomac River in order to minimize noise disruptions in the city. In their final descent they loop over Gravelly Point Park, quickly snap their landing gear into place, and make their screeching landings on a runway stained black by decades of burnt rubber.

Watching huge jets passing by so close overhead is a sensory overload that’s exhilarating (and potentially brings into doubt the basic physics of heavier-than-air flight). Planes are very heavy, large, and fast moving—points that are difficult to appreciate until one roars by a hundred feet above you.

Some days the landing procedure is reversed. When the wind is prevailing northerly, air traffic controllers seize on the opportunity to give departing planes a Mother Nature-assisted takeoff over Gravelly Point. .

Related Tags

Aircraft Transportation Parks Airports

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Parking is limited. Best bet is to bike there along the Mount Vernon Trail, which connects via Washington and Virginia.

Community Contributors

Added By

Elliot Carter

Edited By

cannonw59, Meg, Greg Smith, IgFan...

  • cannonw59
  • Meg
  • Greg Smith
  • IgFan
  • bribolio
  • blimpcaptain
  • Gabe014

Published

May 24, 2017

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Gravelly Point Park
Gravelly Point
Arlington, Virginia
United States
38.864421, -77.039277
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