Randall Pool

About

Randall Pool is a popular outdoor public swimming facility located in the Southwest Waterfront neighborhood of Washington, D.C. It is typically open during the summer months, offering a large main pool and often a smaller, shallower pool for younger children or less experienced swimmers. The facility provides a recreational space for community members to cool off and enjoy aquatic activities.

Specific, consistently published pool temperatures for Randall Pool are not readily available. Public outdoor pools in D.C. are generally unheated and their temperatures fluctuate with ambient weather conditions, typically warming up to comfortable swimming levels during the summer season.

What are people saying (AI review summary)? Randall Pool in DC presents a mixed experience for visitors. Positive aspects include it being a public outdoor pool with a wide deck and plenty of chairs, friendly front desk staff, and a notable feature of reserved "adult only" swim times. Some reviews mention the pool water itself being clean and the changing rooms as spacious and clean with curtained showers, though this is contradicted by other accounts. It can also be quiet later in the day. However, significant downsides include the pool often becoming extremely crowded, particularly on hot days, and being described as overrun by unsupervised and raucous children, leading to safety concerns and incidents of harassment. The pool water is unheated and can be quite chilly. Facility issues vary, with some reporting scalding hot showers (requiring a lever pull) or non-functional showers, unclean locker rooms, and dirty diapers on changing tables. The lap swimming area is short, crowded, and lacks designated lanes. Additionally, the pool area gets overshadowed by a nearby building after 3 PM, and there have been negative interactions with staff, including unhelpful lifeguards and a rude security guard.

Location

Gallery

Amenities

• Accessible Entrance

Reviews

Listing Reviews

June 19th, 2023

James

A lovely public outdoor pool in DC that can get very crowded on hot summer days. The pool is not heated, so the water can be quite chilly. The pool is separated into a deep end that goes from 10 feet to 5 feet, along with a shallower wading area. The deep end is where one can do lap swimming, but it's only about 25 yds long and there's a lot of people around and no designated lane lines. What is great about this pool is that they have reserved "adult only" swim times where children aren't allowed. The pool has lifeguards, clean and spacious changing rooms with curtained showers, although the water is scalding hot and one needs to pull a lever for water to flow, and plenty of lawn chairs for sunbathing. After 3 PM, the nearby building does overshadow the deep end

August 14th, 2022

Alex Chapman

I ended up here after my local Rosedale Pool had an insufficient number of staff to fully open the pool. Friendly front desk staff here at Randall and a wide pool deck with plenty of chairs. It's pretty quiet here late in the day in mid-August. Something to keep in mind is that the pool gets covered by shadow as a nearby building blocks the sun later in the day.

June 13th, 2025

Marie Miles

It was ants by the seating area when I went like a year or so ago but other than that I would've had given it 5 stars because the pool was very clean and no one wasn't hardly at the pool when I had went

June 16th, 2024

Ashley Westerman Loboda

My family and I went to this pool on a whim because it was an outdoor pool and near somewhere we had planned to go later in the evening. I will say this: not all DC pools are created equal. This pool was overrun raucous, unsupervised and undisciplined kids. A young girl hit my husband in the face in the pool while jumping in and he called her out. She refused to apologize and swam away. When he told the staff, the lifeguard told him the little girl was her sister and dismissed him. Our infant daughter was almost run over multiple times (in the shallow end) by kids who didn’t care to pay attention. It was almost dangerous for her to be there. Then, as my husband was changing in the LOCKER ROOM, a group of teenaged boys harassed him for changing. In the locker room. Meanwhile, the locker rooms were unclean and showers don’t work. The baby changing table in the women’s restroom had DIRTY DIAPERS on it. This place is a mess. We won’t be going back.

July 31st, 2023

Natasha R

The other day, I visited the security guard at the door, which was really nasty and mean with one lady. The lady had a can on water, and she told her she couldn't bring it in. As she was finishing the water, the security guard told her to throw it away, or you don't have to come in at all! She was already in the process of finishing the water and throwing the can away. Perhaps she did it as the woman was white and felt the need to flex her power. However, it really wasn't called for as it put my children in a defensive mood as we approached to sign in. I didn't get her name, but she had on an awful wig and thick lashes, and she was tall and skinny. My kids and I swam for about 2 hours and left. The pool itself is pretty clean. It was loose hair floating and a few dead bugs in the water, which I feel should be cleaned during the break but 🤷🏽‍♀️. The kids had fun!