Photo by Nancy Moon

Are you looking to avoid the hoards of tree hugging, selfie stick-wielding tourists at the Tidal Basin, but still want to spread the cherry blossom love? There’s an app for that. D.C. Cherry Picker is an online tool that helps folks locate cherry trees in neighborhoods outside of the National Mall. The web-based platform launched this morning and already has 500 unique visits, says developer Andrew McGill.

I tested it myself, and found about a half dozen spots for cherry tree sightings in walking distance of my locale in Shaw.

The app uses DDOT street tree data, which covers more than 6,500 cherry trees throughout the city.

McGill, a Cleveland Park resident, saw what the Tidal Basin had to offer around this time last year. While the trees were beautiful, he says, “every picture had about a billion people in the background. And walking single file across the Independence Ave. bridge felt more than a little precarious.”

Thus, he built the app “as a little reminder that beauty isn’t confined to the Mall,” he says, adding that he also developed it to make his trek to work a bit more scenic.

The National Park Service expects peak bloom March 23-24.