Swarms of tourists and locals flocked to the National Mall and Tidal Basin this weekend to observe D.C.’s iconic cherry blossom trees in full bloom, congesting roadways and Metro stations.

The Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority this weekend reported its fifth-highest ridership of any Saturday in WMATA’s history, with more than 500,000 people riding Metrorail or bus on March 29.

The Smithsonian Station closed to incoming traffic just before 1 p.m. on Saturday due to the overwhelming volume of commuters, and riders leaving the station were caught in a pile-up of commuters surrounding the escalator.