Forest Hills Connection ran photos of Soapstone trail closure signs in 2022 and again in June 2026. Even after DC Water's May celebration, the old closure signage still had to be removed. The final step came on June 25, when DC Water installed a long-promised fence near the Albemarle Street trailhead, where the path overlooks the outfall pool.
This is the trail's first late fall in years with every entrance open, including the Albemarle Street end right next to Van Ness. The trail you walk this winter is still shared with the utility that rebuilt it, the federal agency that owns the land, and the volunteers who keep the footing safe. Each one works on its own schedule.
A Sewer Line With a Footpath on Top
DC Water's work centered on relining more than century-old sewer pipes that had been slowly leaking sewage into Soapstone Creek. The first planning report came out in 2011. Forest Hills Connection counts the whole effort as a 15-year project from that report to the finish.
Construction closed the park in March 2022 for what was supposed to be a year and a half. It ran about four years, and DC Water held a party in May 2026 to mark the end. Much of the delay came at the top of the valley. A new manhole on Albemarle Street turned into a bigger job than expected, and the street closure meant to last two months stretched past 15. According to the same report, households along Albemarle came to enjoy the quiet street, and friendships formed among adults and children that have outlasted the returning traffic.
The method changed partway through as well. DC Water used hot water to cure the new plastic liners, an older technique, even though some neighbors and the ANC had pushed for UV curing. Its contractor later bought a UV company and used UV on the final pipe segments.
For walkers, the change you can feel is underfoot. The project rebuilt many of the stream crossings, so regulars no longer reach crossings washed out by spring and summer storms.
DC Water's Clock Is Still Running
The party marked the end of construction, but DC Water still has work in the valley. The relined pipes stay sound only if the utility keeps up regular inspections, cleaning and repairs over the years. It is also obligated to water and maintain the new trees for a few more years.
Those trees have already been through one round of replacement. In December 2024, Forest Hills Connection reported that DC Water's contractor was replacing 31 trees that had died and planting another 25 at the request of the National Park Service's arborist. The saplings along the creek this winter are part of a landscape still being established, and the utility is responsible for them.
Mitchell Baer, the ANC 3F commissioner whose district includes the valley, has tracked the work with DC Water since joining the commission in 2022. He told Forest Hills Connection:
"I am very happy to see the completion of the project. Thanks to the community for the support and continuing efforts."
He also said, "We will continue to monitor the newly planted trees."
The Park Service Sets the Hours
DC Water rebuilt the valley, but it doesn't own it. Soapstone Valley Park is federal land managed by the National Park Service's Rock Creek Park unit. A 2011 DC Water assessment describes it as roughly bounded by Connecticut Avenue and Albemarle Street, Audubon Terrace, and Broad Branch Road.
That means Rock Creek Park's rules apply, and the main one matters more in November. The park, including all of its trails, closes every day from sunset to sunrise, all year. As sunset moves earlier, a walk after work runs into closing time sooner.
The second rule is seasonal, and the current season began November 2. The Park Service's white-tailed deer management window runs from November 2, 2026, to March 1, 2027. Soapstone Valley Park is on the list of smaller areas under Rock Creek Park's management where the agency has carried out deer reduction since 2020. The page, last updated October 30, 2026, describes what the window means for anyone near the park:
- Operations happen at night, while the park is closed, with nighttime trail closures enforced and signs posted on closed trails and roads.
- Broad Branch Road NW stays open at all times, as does Beach Drive south of Broad Branch Road.
- Beach Drive from Broad Branch Road to Joyce Road is already closed to motor vehicles and may also close to walkers, cyclists and other non-motorized use from 6:45 p.m. to 4 a.m.
- The Park Service does not publish exact times or locations of operations, and Rock Creek Park posts website alerts during the season.
The program is tied to the same forest the restoration replanted. The Park Service says that since it began reducing the deer population in Rock Creek Park in 2013, tree seedling density in the park has more than doubled. The young trees DC Water must keep alive for the next few years grow under a deer-management plan aimed at helping young trees survive.
Volunteers Keep the Footing
The third schedule belongs to volunteers. Baer is also the Soapstone Trail supervisor for the Potomac Appalachian Trail Club. When most of the trail reopened in 2024, the club's Rock Creek Crew went in right away. As Forest Hills Connection reported in October 2024, the crew reinstalled signs, replaced steps, added erosion control, cleared fallen trees and redecked a short footbridge.
That work fits what the Park Service required of the restoration. Disturbed slopes were to be re-contoured, drainage ditches and step logs restored, and streambanks stabilized with live stakes, seeding and rock walls using plants native to Rock Creek Park. Contractors built the base, and volunteer crews keep it maintained.
Where Each Entrance Lets You Out
From 2022 until this summer, getting into the valley from the Van Ness side meant going around. When DC Water reopened most of the trail in August 2024, the stretch from Albemarle Street to Audubon Terrace stayed closed for the manhole work. With that work finished and the Albemarle fence in place, the trail can be walked end to end again. These are the entrances Forest Hills Connection lists, from the Connecticut Avenue end down to Rock Creek:
- Albemarle Street, near Connecticut Avenue. This is the trailhead with the new fence above the outfall pool, and the closest door for anyone coming from the Van Ness–UDC Metro side.
- Windom Place.
- The west end of Audubon Terrace.
- The east end of Audubon Terrace.
- Broad Branch Road. This is the low end, and Broad Branch Road stays open around the clock through the deer season.
Coming out at Albemarle puts you a short walk from the Connecticut Avenue blocks covered in our look at the corridor's newer storefronts. Several stops there follow their own schedules this winter:
- Calvert Woodley at 4339 Connecticut Avenue holds wine tastings every Friday.
- Bread Furst at 4434 Connecticut Avenue used basil grown by UDC this year. The university raises produce on research farms at its Van Ness campus and in Beltsville, Maryland.
- Yoga on Connecticut runs donation-based classes at the Van Ness Main Street office through November and December: 10:15 a.m. and 5:30 p.m. on Sundays, 6:30 p.m. on Thursdays and 9:30 a.m. on Saturdays. Earlier listings give the address as 4340 Connecticut Avenue.
- Van Ness Main Street's Holiday Pop-Up Market runs Saturday, December 12, from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m.
A Saturday 9:30 yoga class, a morning walk down to Broad Branch Road and back, and a stop on Connecticut Avenue before noon all fit inside the park's daylight hours, even in December.
At Kerry Fortune, we follow the details that shape daily life in North Cleveland Park, from which trailhead is open to which park rules apply this season. If you're thinking about what your home near the valley is worth, start with an instant home valuation, and Kerry will follow up personally.
