The parkway provides access to the communities of Cabin John and Glen Echo and several units of the Chesapeake and Ohio Canal National Historical Park.

The Maryland portion of the George Washington Memorial Parkway was renamed in 1989 for Clara Barton, the founder of the American Red Cross, and whose original headquarters is located in Glen Echo.

At this point, the parkway passes in front of the historic Union Arch Bridge which spans the creek and carries the Washington Aqueduct and MacArthur Boulevard.

[1] East of Glen Echo, the Clara Barton Parkway reverts to a two-lane surface road that closely parallels MacArthur Boulevard on the hillside to the north.

Commercial vehicles, including trucks, are prohibited from the Clara Barton Parkway without a permit from the National Park Service, which maintains the highway.

The Clara Barton Parkway operates as a one-way road between the Glen Echo interchange and its eastern terminus at the Chain Bridge Monday to Friday.

Traffic flows eastbound only toward Washington from 6:15 a.m. to 10 a.m. and westbound only toward Glen Echo from 2:45 p.m. to 7:15 p.m.[3] The Clara Barton Parkway is a part of the National Highway System as a principal arterial for its entire length.

[4] Congress approved the construction of parkways on both sides of the Potomac River from Great Falls to Fort Washington and Mount Vernon in Maryland and Virginia, respectively, in 1930.

Going east, the parkway would continue to Georgetown, where it would tie into the western end of the Whitehurst Freeway at its junction with the Francis Scott Key Bridge.