Active Pursuits

If you prefer to work up your own honest sweat, Washington offers plenty of pleasant opportunities in many lush surroundings.

Joggers can enjoy a run on the Mall or along the path in Rock Creek Park.

As mentioned above, you can rent bikes from Bike and Roll/Bike the Sites, or from the Boat House at Fletcher's Cove, Reservoir and Canal roads (tel. 202/244-0461; www.fletcherscove.com), or Thompson's Boat Center, 2900 Virginia Ave. at Rock Creek Parkway NW (tel. 202/333-4861 or 333-9543; www.thompsonboatcenter.com; Metro: Foggy Bottom, with a 10-min. walk); both Fletcher's and Thompson's rent bikes, weather permitting, from about mid-March to mid-October. At Big Wheel Bikes, 1034 33rd St. NW, right near the C&O Canal just below M Street (tel. 202/337-0254; www.bigwheelbikes.com), you can rent a bike year-round, Tuesday through Sunday. If you need suggested routes or want company, check out Friday's Washington Post "Weekend" section, which lists cycling trips. Rock Creek Park has an 11-mile paved bike route from the Lincoln Memorial through the park into Maryland. Or you can follow the bike path from the Lincoln Memorial and go over the Memorial Bridge to pedal to Old Town Alexandria and to Mount Vernon. On weekends and holidays, a large part of Rock Creek Parkway is closed to vehicular traffic. The C&O Canal and the Potomac parks, described earlier in "Parks and Gardens," also have extended bike paths. The Capital Crescent Trail takes you from Georgetown to the suburb of Bethesda, Maryland, following a former railroad track that parallels the Potomac River for part of the way and passes by old trestle bridges and pleasant residential neighborhoods. You can pick up the trail at the Thompson Boat Center, in Georgetown near the waterfront, and at Fletcher's Cove, along the C&O Canal; visit the website www.cctrail.org for maps and more information.

Thompson's Boat Center and the Boat House at Fletcher's Cove rent boats following the same schedule as their bike-rental season, basically March to November. Thompson's has canoes, kayaks, and rowing shells (recreational and racing), and is open for boat and bike rentals daily in season from 8am to 5pm. Fletcher's is right on the C&O Canal, about 3 1/4 miles from Georgetown. In addition to renting bikes, canoes, and kayaks, Fletcher's also sells fishing licenses, bait, and tackle. Open daily 7am to 7pm in season, Fletcher's is accessible by car (west on M St. to Canal Rd.) and has plenty of free parking.

From mid-March to mid-October, weather permitting, you can rent paddle boats on the north end of the Tidal Basin off Independence Avenue (tel. 202/479-2426; www.tidalbasinpaddleboats.com). Four-seaters are $19 an hour; two-seaters are $12 an hour, 10am to 6pm daily mid-March to Labor Day and Wednesday to Sunday Labor Day to mid-October.

Washington has numerous hiking paths. The C&O Canal offers 185 miles stretching from D.C. to Cumberland, Maryland; Theodore Roosevelt Island has more than 88 wilderness acres to explore; and Rock Creek Park boasts 20 miles of hiking trails (maps are available at the Visitor Information Center or Park Headquarters).

If you're coming to Washington in winter, you can go ice-skating on the C&O Canal (call tel. 301/299-3613 for information on ice conditions), as long as you bring your own skates. For a really fun experience, head to the National Gallery Sculpture Garden Ice Rink, on the Mall at 7th Street and Constitution Avenue NW (tel. 202/289-3360), where you can rent skates, twirl in view of the sculptures, and enjoy hot chocolate and a sandwich in the Pavilion Café next to the rink.

If it's summer and your hotel doesn't have a pool, you might consider one of the neighborhood pools, including a large outdoor pool at 25th and N streets NW (tel. 202/727-3285) and the Georgetown outdoor pool at 34th Street and Volta Place NW (tel. 202/282-0381). Keep in mind that these are likely to be crowded.

One of the best places open to the public for swimming in summer and for other outdoor sports year-round is East Potomac Park's Hains Point, part of the National Park Service's National Mall and Memorial Parks. Located on a peninsula extending into the Potomac River, Hains Point lies within walking distance of Independence Ave. and has a large outdoor swimming pool and 24 tennis courts (10 clay, 9 hard courts), including three illuminated at night and five indoor courts; the park rents rackets as well (contact East Potomac Park Tennis; tel. 202/554-5962; www.eastpotomactennis.com). Fees vary with court surface and time of play. You can even play golf here: At the historic East Potomac Golf Course, golfers use the Washington Monument to help them line up their shots. The club rents everything but shoes. In addition to its year-round, 36-hole green, the park offers a miniature golf course (open since 1930, this is the oldest continually operating miniature golf course in the country).

Finally, one other tennis option: Montrose Park, right next to Dumbarton Oaks, in Georgetown, has several courts available free on a first-come, first-served basis, but they're often in use.

White House Street Hockey -- When security hysteria closed Pennsylvania Avenue in front of the White House, some enterprising athletes converted the world's most prestigious address into a street hockey rink: 1600 Pennsylvania Ave. Since no motor vehicles are allowed on the flat and wide roadway, street hockey players commandeer the spot for their sport every Saturday and Sunday at noon. Anybody can show up to play. All you need are skates and a stick. Other protective equipment -- helmets, padding -- is optional, although the veteran players recommend wearing at least hockey gloves. Check out the White House Hockey website (www.sites.google.com/site/whitehousehockey), and sign up for the players' Google group to be informed about schedules and weather-related cancellations.