Originally Posted by
chtiet
It's very easy - I do it virtually every time I fly out of DCA.
The "north" way is better for terminals B and C, and it's a little shorter. The downside is that there is no proper trail, and that you need to cross the airport access road when there is a gap in traffic.
I run the trail also.
There is a way to get to the north entrance. If you enter the trail as others have suggested (near the Water Park), you'll cross under the GW parkway. The path then takes a big clockwise turn uphill and you'll wind up at the intersection to the Mt. Vernon Trail. Take a right on to the foot bridge that crosses over the GWP off-ramp. About .1 mile after the end of the footbridge will be a left-hand spur off the trail. Follow this one for about 100 yds and you'll come out in a small airport maintenance yard and will be facing the main DCA access road. You'll see an underground walkway that goes under the access road and pops up in the parking garage across the street. From there, you just walk through the parking garage to the terminal as if you had driven there.
No need to cheat death to cross the main drag! ^