Watch the Supermoon Rise Over Washington

Few natural events unite Arlington residents the way a supermoon does — when word spreads on a clear evening that the moon is rising large and orange over the Potomac, the best viewing spots fill up with blankets, tripods, and people standing very still, not wanting to break the spell. The key to the best lunar viewing is elevation and an unobstructed eastern horizon, and Arlington has several spots that deliver both. The marble terrace below President Kennedy’s gravesite at Arlington National Cemetery offers sweeping vistas of the Potomac River, the Lincoln Memorial, and the Washington Monument — all of which become luminous on a full moon night in a way that is genuinely difficult to describe. The cemetery is open until dusk, so an evening walk timed to the moonrise can coincide with one of the most extraordinary natural-and-architectural compositions in the entire DC area.

Gravelly Point Park — accessible off the George Washington Parkway just north of Reagan National Airport — offers a wide, flat, open field with unobstructed views east across the Potomac, where the moon rises directly over the monuments and the Capitol dome. It is equally spectacular for watching planes, and the combination of a low-flying aircraft silhouetted against a rising supermoon has become one of the signature photographic moments of Arlington. The Iwo Jima Memorial at night with a full moon behind the bronze figures is another extraordinary composition, and the Custis Trail ridge near the N. Quincy Street overpass offers surprising eastern exposure from inside an urban trail corridor. For supermoon dates, NASA’s moon phase calendar gives precise rise times. Time your arrival 10 to 15 minutes before moonrise for the best view of the moon’s color and apparent size while it is still near the horizon.