Washington to Outer Banks drive: 24 ranked stops, break in Fredericksburg

Strantz conjured windswept Ireland out of inland Virginia with fescue-cloaked mounds, vast bunkers, and severe contours. Renovated and reopened in 2019.

A well-regarded daily-fee track near Fredericksburg.

A Pete Dye course along the James River.

Potomac/Aquia Creek peninsula park with a visitor center, canoe-kayak and motorboat launches, and paddle-in camping.

A Rees Jones design out on the Outer Banks where six holes run along Currituck Sound and wild horses roam the dunes nearby. Bring your camera and a tolerance for sea breeze.

A 72-foot bronze-look giant, buried to the elbows, appears to be clawing his way out of the earth on a man-made beach beside the Potomac. J. Seward Johnson Jr.'s 1980 sculpture spent 28 years at DC's Hains Point before a National Harbor developer bought it for $700,000 in 2007 and moved it across the river to Maryland in 2008 -- so the giant now technically

northern Outer Banks sand near wild-horse country and Currituck lighthouse views

A swing bridge crosses the historic Dismal Swamp Canal into easy hiking and cycling trails through Atlantic white-cedar swamp, while the visitor center adds exhibits and seasonal boat rentals. Trail access follows seasonal gate hours.