It’s magnificent to stroll around this constructed inlet and watch the monument lights wink across the Potomac. The blooms here are loveliest during the Cherry Blossom Festival, the city’s annual spring rejuvenation, when the basin bursts into a pink-and-white floral collage. The original Yoshino cherry trees were a gift from the city of Tokyo, and planted in 1912. Rent a paddleboat from the boathouse to get out on the water.
The Tidal Basin also serves a practical purpose: flushing the adjacent Washington Channel. At high tide, river waters fill the basin through gates under the Inlet Bridge. At low tide, gates under the Outlet Bridge open and water streams into the channel.
