One of the nicest and least appreciated parks in D.C. is a place officially called Meridian Hill Park but known to everyone as Malcolm X Park. Its 12 acres sit on a hill overlooking downtown and the monuments. John Quincy Adams lived in a mansion here after leaving the White House. Today, there are spooky statues and cascading pools of water, more reminiscent of a neglected European chateau garden than a National Park Service tract. Visit late on a Sunday afternoon to dance to the sounds of the ad hoc drum circle that has been forming weekly since the 1950s.

• 1. Malcolm X Park
  16th Street & Euclid Street NW, Washington, DC 38.921197-77.035882 nps.gov/mehi