The Woodland Path, National Cathedral

Frederick Law Olmsted, Jr., The National Cathedral’s first landscape architect, instructed that an area of oak and beech forest to the south of the Cathedral remain free of development in order to offer a place of quiet within the bustle of the city.

In 1955, the Fauquier and Loudoun Garden Club received the Founders Fund Award to create this quarter-mile path in the Olmsted Woods, then called The Woodland Path. For many years this path thrived as an oasis in the shadow of the Cathedral but then as time went on, the woods fell into disrepair suffering from soil compaction, erosion, uncontrolled runoff and invasive plants.

Under the leadership of the All Hallows Guild, stewards of the Gardens and Grounds of the Cathedral, the Olmsted Woods restoration project began in 1997 and was completed in 2008. This decade long project included reparations to the footpath started with the Founders Fund Award. Now called Pilgrim Way, the stone path offers visitors accessible pedestrian access through the woods where they can enjoy the many features of the area including a Contemplative Circle, The Woodland Bridge, All Hallows Amphitheater and view of The National Cathedral.