Planned for wheelchair riders
Green and Yellow Lines under Penn Quarter. The National Archives and the Navy Memorial are right by the station entrance. The National Gallery of Art is a longer trip outside, so plan for it.
Written for riders using the Green or Yellow Line to reach the National Archives and the east end of the National Mall.
Station F02
Two trips from one station
Archives / Navy Memorial · or the National Gallery’s east side
Same station. Very different time outside for a wheelchair or stroller.
Disability & mobility
Archives–Navy Memorial–Penn Quarter is the Green and Yellow Line choice when you are not already on the Blue, Orange, or Silver Line to Smithsonian. The National Archives and the Navy Memorial are close. Allow more time for the longer sidewalk route to the National Gallery of Art.
Archives
Constitution Avenue and Pennsylvania Avenue are almost at the entrance. Security and tickets are up to the building. Metro only gets you to the street.
Accessibility page for National Archives Museum
Best for the Archives and the Navy Memorial
Gallery
For these east buildings, the route along the edge of the Mall is shorter than from Smithsonian, but it’s still several blocks outside after the elevator. Decide which Gallery building you need before you leave the platform.
Accessibility page for National Gallery of Art
Best for the Gallery’s east entrances
One station can serve two trips that feel very different once you are outside in a wheelchair.
If the Archives elevators are out, Gallery Place or L'Enfant Plaza may still get you to your building. Compare the minutes outside, not just the line colors. Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority (WMATA) elevator-outage shuttle: 202-962-1825 · TTY 202-638-3780.
On the ground
Three steps: the station elevator, the Navy Memorial plaza, the Portrait Gallery.
01
Two elevators and a short set of escalators. If an elevator is out, you are stuck just short of your goal, before you even see the columns of the Archives building.
02
An outdoor memorial plaza sits right above the station. Working elevators do not make the plaza easy in heat or rain.
03
It shares its F Street building with the Smithsonian American Art Museum. It’s still a sidewalk route after the elevator, but you won’t need a second Metro ride if you pace yourself from Archives.
Why this stop feels different
The name “Archives” fits the building next door. The route to the Gallery is the part visitors tend to forget.
The station sits where the Green and Yellow Lines meet downtown memorials and museums. That is why visitor guides send people here for the National Archives, and why riders heading to the Gallery should plan for the time outside.
The plan is simple: check the elevators, choose the Archives plaza or the sidewalk to the Gallery, then use each building’s own page for security and elevators inside.
On the street
Archives–Navy Memorial–Penn Quarter
7th St & Pennsylvania / Constitution Ave NW
Washington, District of Columbia
Penn Quarter station entrance · to the Gallery’s east side
Yellow · Green
Nearby: National Archives, Navy Memorial, National Gallery of Art, National Portrait Gallery. When elevators are out: Gallery Place or Smithsonian may still work. Compare the minutes outside.
Open Archives on the live mapLive elevator status at ArchivesAfter the elevator
Sorted shortest first. Times are hand-set for a chair or stroller pace after the street elevator — not live routing.
At the venue
We copied these by hand from each venue’s own pages. They may be out of date or wrong, so confirm on the venue’s page before you go.
Source: National Archives
Source: National Gallery of Art
Source: National Portrait Gallery
Accessibility page for National Portrait Gallery / Smithsonian American Art Museum
Last look
Four things to check before you go.
Make sure both elevators are working before you count on Archives as the short Green or Yellow Line option.
The Archives plaza is right there. The Gallery’s east side is a longer route. The Portrait Gallery is in between.
For the Gallery’s West Building, the Blue, Orange, and Silver Line exits on the Mall mean a different route outside, not necessarily a worse one.
Tickets, security screening, and elevators inside are on each building’s page. Metro elevator status is on our map.
About this guide. We put these guides together by hand. Travel times are our own estimates, and venue details are copied from their websites, so either can be wrong or out of date. Check the venue’s page before you go. For elevators, trust the live map and the transit agency.