'' The Parkway has two points of origination on its southern end, one at the
traffic circle around the
Lincoln Memorial, and the other at the intersection of
Ohio Drive and
Independence Avenue. The eastern portion of the Lincoln Memorial traffic circle has been closed for several years, and there is no longer any easy access to the northbound parkway from that point. The Ohio Drive branch is now the main originating branch. Before the
Theodore Roosevelt Bridge (
I-66) was built,
Constitution Avenue ran to the parkway, with Ohio Drive ending at Constitution Avenue. The parkway's entrance is framed by two monumental statues,
Music and Harvest and
Aspiration and Literature, which together form a group known as
The Arts of Peace. They were designed by
James Earle Fraser and erected in 1951. After passing under the Roosevelt Bridge, the parkway passes the
Kennedy Center for Performing Arts, including an
at-grade intersection with
F Street Northwest north of the building. Prior to the building of the Kennedy Center,
New Hampshire Avenue ran to the parkway. Beyond F Street, the parkway runs past the
Watergate building; there it intersects
Virginia Avenue, which provides easy access to and from the
Potomac River Freeway (I-66). The Potomac River sweeps to the west at approximately this point; the parkway continues along its rough north–south path and instead parallels the small Potomac tributary of Rock Creek. Past Virginia Avenue, the parkway has many characteristics of a
freeway, most notably limited access by ramp. The first
interchange is with
K Street Northwest, lying inside the newer
Whitehurst Freeway/
Potomac River Freeway interchange. Due to the partial nature of the interchange, some movements are made via Virginia Avenue instead. Just to the west, K Street crosses Rock Creek over the
L Street Bridge, with the Whitehurst Freeway overhead and separate side bridges for the ramps to and from the northbound Parkway. After K Street, the parkway crosses Rock Creek, paralleling it to the west for a while.
Pennsylvania Avenue crosses over the parkway and the creek on a
combined bridge, with a single-loop ramp from the southbound parkway to Pennsylvania Avenue eastbound. Just to the north,
M Street Northwest crosses the parkway and creek together, with no access between the roads. Further north,
P Street Northwest crosses the parkway and creek, with ramps from P Street to the parkway northbound and southbound and from the southbound parkway to P Street. Just after crossing under P Street, the parkway crosses to the east side of the creek on the
Bridge near P Street, and a northbound onramp from P Street merges. It passes under
Q Street Northwest's
Dumbarton Bridge over the creek with no access. The
Charles C. Glover Bridge carries
Massachusetts Avenue over the parkway and creek. Access to and from the south is provided via Waterside Drive, which merges into the parkway at a Y interchange. To the north, Waterside Drive merges back into the parkway, providing for all movements but a southbound offramp. Soon after, the parkway again crosses to the west side of the creek on the
Shoreham Hill Bridge. The end of the parkway is near an intersection with
Beach Drive, which continues generally northward along the creek. A left turn from southbound Rock Creek Parkway provides access to Beach Drive from local roads. Just north of Beach Drive, the parkway again splits, with
Cathedral Avenue heading northeast next to Beach Drive under the
William H. Taft Bridge and
Duke Ellington Bridge (
Connecticut Avenue and
Calvert Street), and the parkway becoming
24th Street Northwest at Calvert Street, with easy access to Connecticut Avenue. Cathedral Avenue is one-way at the same times as the parkway. Beach Drive continues as a two-lane road parallel to Rock Creek, enters a
tunnel under a hill, passes the
National Zoo, and continues towards
Maryland. Trucks and other commercial vehicles are barred from the parkway. The parkway has been used as part of
state funeral processions between the
United States Capitol and the
Washington National Cathedral. ==One-way operation==