Exercising or Exorcising? Walking the Exorcist Steps in D.C.

Note: This post has been updated on May 10, 2022.

Yesterday, I decided to take a walk.  In fact, most evenings I do now that the weather is warmer.

This time, my walk found me going all the way from Clarendon to Georgetown University and back - about 7 miles round-trip. It is on this trip that I finally visited (and walked) the infamous “Exorcist Steps”.

Exercising or Exorcising?

We all know the affiliation between the movie " The Exorcist" and the infamous stairs quite well.  In fact, I've never gotten through the movie once and although I've lived here my whole life, have never climbed the stairs - mainly out of fear (I know, it's silly).  Some say these stairs are freaky and others say it's just a pain to get to the top.

For those who have never even seen them, it's a steep set of stairs that can be accessed from Fox Hall Rd., from a parking lot, behind a dumpster.  It's definitely dark and definitely smelly, only adding to the "ambience".  If you're not athletic, I can only liken climbing them to feeling like the demons have taken the breath out of you (I said a few Hail Marys, trying to get to the top without stopping to take a nap).  I can see why former Georgetown student, William Peter Blatty, added this to his screenplay - there's no way someone could successfully walk away from a fall down these steps without some sort of injury.

But, once at the top, I got some stunning views of the Potomac River, Georgetown, and some of the university’s grounds.