Klingle Road

Klingle Road is a street in the northwest quadrant of Washington, D.C. A large portion of the road was closed to traffic (between Cortland Place and Porter Street) in 1991 due to erosion damage. After a years-long dispute between District residents who wanted the road repaired and others who wanted to keep this portion of Rock Creek Park free of automobile traffic, the closed section has become a trail for hikers and bicyclists, and on June 24, 2017, is now open and is called the Klingle Valley Trail.

The valley forms the boundary between the Woodley Park neighborhood to the south and the Cleveland Park neighborhood to the north. A small stream, usually called Klingle Creek (but sometimes the Klingle Tributary), flows through it, and empties into Rock Creek. Much of the valley is administered by the National Park Service as a part of Rock Creek Park. The mouth of the valley joins the mouth of another narrow valley occupied by Porter Street.

Formerly Klingle Ford Road, Klingle Road became a public roadway in 1839. In 1885, the Klingle Road right of way was deeded to the City. In 1913, the city generated a plan to straighten and widen the street as Klingle Parkway, connecting Beach Drive and Reno Road. Before World War I, the road was used by farmers to bring grain to Peirce Mill. Klingle Road is mentioned as the historic southern border for Rock Creek Park.

More than half of the road was closed to traffic in 1991, due to erosion caused by storm damage.

When Rock Creek Park was established, only three country lanes, Klingle, Peirce Mill, and Military Roads had through connections on either side of the valley above the National Zoological Park. These roads and the major north-south routes on the eastern and western edges of what became Rock Creek Park, such as Fourteenth Street, Broad Branch, and Daniel's (today Oregon Avenue) Roads, largely determined the development of the land area into the twentieth century.

Klingle Road is mentioned as the historic southern border for Rock Creek Park, the 1,754.62 acres (710.07 ha) parcel legally defined as Reservation 339. The park's boundaries are roughly defined as Sixteenth Street on the east, Oregon Avenue and Branch Road on the west, the District line and Parkside Drive on the north and Klingle Road on the south. A bill establishing Rock Creek Park was approved by both houses of Congress and signed into law by President Benjamin Harrison on September 27, 1890, five years after Klingle Road was land-dedicated to the District of Columbia for use as a public highway. Klingle Road functions as a public access road for Rock Creek Park, which is located in the northwest quadrant of Washington, D.C.

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