# help from DC area dopers and Google Earh sleuths **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [April 1, 2015, 2:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-from-dc-area-dopers-and-google-earh-sleuths/716498 "2015-04-01T14:39:01Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![madmonk28](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/madmonk28/32/20811_2.png) [@madmonk28](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/madmonk28)\ **Post date:** [April 1, 2015, 2:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-from-dc-area-dopers-and-google-earh-sleuths/716498/1 "2015-04-01T14:39:01Z")
I’m trying to find the fishing spot metioned in this post: [https://deadbait.wordpress.com/2013/05/25/secret-stash/](https://deadbait.wordpress.com/2013/05/25/secret-stash/) One of the pics shows a bridge that I’m hoping someone recognizes, there are also these clues to its location from the post: > [@](#): > > The best thing about this spot, its hard to get to, even for people who live right on it. Its about 145 vertical feet down in a ravine on an obscure trail that meanders through obscure neighborhoods of DC. All that keeps the riff-raff away though I’m sure the creek’s got its poachers and > [@](#): > > And while it has long stretches of nondescript sandy bottom in the headwaters and where it empties into the X river, there’s a good quarter mile of boulder-strewn pocket water in my area, filled with pleasant pools with gravel bottom and ledge… I’m betting dopers can crack this in nothing flat. ---
**Author:** ![robert\_columbia](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/e79b87/32.png) [@robert\_columbia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/robert_columbia)\ **Post date:** [April 1, 2015, 3:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-from-dc-area-dopers-and-google-earh-sleuths/716498/2 "2015-04-01T15:05:50Z")
That looks like a rail bridge (iron, low or absent railings). Here are some nearby rail bridges: [Google Maps](https://www.google.com/maps/@39.0328021,-77.0850058,19z) (Rock Creek, in Silver Spring) [Google Maps](https://www.google.com/maps/@38.9145706,-76.9241447,15z) (Beaverdam Creek, Cheverly) ---
**Author:** ![madmonk28](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/madmonk28/32/20811_2.png) [@madmonk28](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/madmonk28)\ **Post date:** [April 1, 2015, 3:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-from-dc-area-dopers-and-google-earh-sleuths/716498/3 "2015-04-01T15:21:50Z")
I think you may be right, Beaverdam Creek is looking like it might be the winner! Thanks. ---
**Author:** ![Dorjan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dorjan/32/12440_2.png) [@Dorjan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dorjan)\ **Post date:** [April 1, 2015, 3:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-from-dc-area-dopers-and-google-earh-sleuths/716498/4 "2015-04-01T15:23:15Z")
My guess is that it’s a tributary of the Anacostia river, or somewhere along either Brier Ditch, Paint Branch, or Indian creek. I’d need more clues to narrow it down from there. I don’t see a bridge in any of those pictures…? ---
**Author:** ![madmonk28](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/madmonk28/32/20811_2.png) [@madmonk28](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/madmonk28)\ **Post date:** [April 1, 2015, 3:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-from-dc-area-dopers-and-google-earh-sleuths/716498/5 "2015-04-01T15:35:54Z")
In the fifth picture down, there is a bridge in the background. For some reason, the pics don’t always load for me on that page. ---
**Author:** ![Dorjan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dorjan/32/12440_2.png) [@Dorjan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dorjan)\ **Post date:** [April 1, 2015, 3:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-from-dc-area-dopers-and-google-earh-sleuths/716498/6 "2015-04-01T15:38:04Z")
Oh, I see it now, it’s pretty washed out in that pic. ---
**Author:** ![Mama\_Zappa](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/71e660/32.png) [@Mama\_Zappa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mama_Zappa)\ **Post date:** [April 8, 2015, 4:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-from-dc-area-dopers-and-google-earh-sleuths/716498/7 "2015-04-08T04:29:11Z")
> [@robert\_columbia](#): > > That looks like a rail bridge (iron, low or absent railings). > > Here are some nearby rail bridges: > > [Google Maps](https://www.google.com/maps/@39.0328021,-77.0850058,19z) (Rock Creek, in Silver Spring) > > [Google Maps](https://www.google.com/maps/@38.9145706,-76.9241447,15z) (Beaverdam Creek, Cheverly) OK, I have a really odd-sounding question: Did anyone else click on the Beaverdam Creek link - and get a chance to play Pac Man??? (no, I’m not joking, nor am I under the influence of anything illicit…). ---
**Author:** ![Edward\_The\_Head](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/ce73a5/32.png) [@Edward\_The\_Head](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Edward_The_Head)\ **Post date:** [April 8, 2015, 1:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-from-dc-area-dopers-and-google-earh-sleuths/716498/8 "2015-04-08T13:28:36Z")
> [@robert\_columbia](#): > > [Google Maps](https://www.google.com/maps/@39.0328021,-77.0850058,19z) (Rock Creek, in Silver Spring) It’s not this one as I go over it every day on the way to work. It’s much closer to the ground then the one pictured. The OP might be best off just emailing the guy and asking. ---
**Author:** ![madmonk28](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/madmonk28/32/20811_2.png) [@madmonk28](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/madmonk28)\ **Post date:** [April 8, 2015, 1:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-from-dc-area-dopers-and-google-earh-sleuths/716498/9 "2015-04-08T13:40:38Z")
> [@Edward\_The\_Head](#): > > It’s not this one as I go over it every day on the way to work. It’s much closer to the ground then the one pictured. > > The OP might be best off just emailing the guy and asking. I’m almost certain that it is the Beaverdam Creek in Cheverly. **Robert Columbia** nailed it in one. Not only does it look like the right spot, the location fits the other clues in the blog. **Mama Zappa** , Google Maps had Pac-Man in its maps on April Fool’s day. ---
**Author:** ![TruCelt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/trucelt/32/523_2.png) [@TruCelt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TruCelt)\ **Post date:** [April 8, 2015, 3:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-from-dc-area-dopers-and-google-earh-sleuths/716498/10 "2015-04-08T15:02:08Z")
But seriously, Monk, I wouldn’t eat fish from any DC river or creek. The canine fecal load alone is enough to make it unsafe, and the run-off throughout the city is nastily unpredictable. Come out to VA if you plan to consume your catch! ---
**Author:** ![madmonk28](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/madmonk28/32/20811_2.png) [@madmonk28](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/madmonk28)\ **Post date:** [April 8, 2015, 3:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-from-dc-area-dopers-and-google-earh-sleuths/716498/11 "2015-04-08T15:16:56Z")
Of course I’m not eating what I catch in DC, or anywhere else in the mid-Atlantic to be honest. It’s all catch and release fly fishing. It’s nice to fish close to home without slogging along 66 to VA, or 270 to MD sometimes. I’ve also fished in the Tidal Basin right in front of the Jefferson Memorial. ---
**Author:** ![2gigch1](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/2gigch1/32/3313_2.png) [@2gigch1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/2gigch1)\ **Post date:** [April 16, 2015, 10:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-from-dc-area-dopers-and-google-earh-sleuths/716498/12 "2015-04-16T22:40:13Z")
Just stumbled onto this thread. Given the height of the bridge in the background the surrounding terrain must be pretty significant. The clues being “bordering and within the beltway” suggest to me that is the northern end of the American Legion Bridge and photo #5 was taken [at this spot on Rock Run Culvert](https://www.google.com/maps/place/38%C2%B058'15.3%22N+77%C2%B010'38.6%22W/@38.970913,-77.177388,240m/data=!3m2!1e3!4b1!4m2!3m1!1s0x0:0x0), facing the bridge to the west. I can’t think of any other spots that have as high a bridge of that type nearby, and the bordering comment indicates that is the beltway in the picture. The only other beltway bridge that high above the stream is[the bridge over the Northwest Branch](https://www.google.com/maps/place/Capital+Beltway,+Silver+Spring,+MD+20903/@39.0179844,-76.9929262,385m/data=!3m2!1e3!4b1!4m2!3m1!1s0x89b7c5e934ef7139:0x6c9e386c4f81512e), which also might qualify by the description but that spot certainly isn’t hidden or out of the way, it’s well traveled. ---
**Author:** ![beowulff](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/beowulff/32/542_2.png) [@beowulff](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/beowulff)\ **Post date:** [April 16, 2015, 11:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-from-dc-area-dopers-and-google-earh-sleuths/716498/13 "2015-04-16T23:01:48Z")
> [@2gigch1](#): > > Just stumbled onto this thread. > The only other beltway bridge that high above the stream is[the bridge over the Northwest Branch](https://www.google.com/maps/place/Capital+Beltway,+Silver+Spring,+MD+20903/@39.0179844,-76.9929262,385m/data=!3m2!1e3!4b1!4m2!3m1!1s0x89b7c5e934ef7139:0x6c9e386c4f81512e), which also might qualify by the description but that spot certainly isn’t hidden or out of the way, it’s well traveled. I used to live a mile or so from this spot. It’s possible this this is the location, but I wouldn’t bet on it. As I remember, it’s quite difficult to get down to the stream - my friends and I used to walk all the way from Colesville Rd. As a kid I used to fish at the old damn farther up the stream, but when I was last there it had become completely silted up. ---
**Author:** ![Isilder](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/cc9497/32.png) [@Isilder](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Isilder)\ **Post date:** [April 16, 2015, 11:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-from-dc-area-dopers-and-google-earh-sleuths/716498/14 "2015-04-16T23:47:54Z")
> [@Dorjan](#): > > My guess is that it’s a tributary of the Anacostia river, or somewhere along either Brier Ditch, Paint Branch, or Indian creek. I’d need more clues to narrow it down from there. I don’t see a bridge in any of those pictures…? The clues … its the beltway bridge, what else do you find “adjacent” “in” the beltway ? The trail ? Anacostia Tributary Trail system. See [https://www.google.com/maps/@39.014893,-76.992493,3a,75y,90t/data=!3m5!1e2!3m3!1s106715097!2e1!3e10](https://www.google.com/maps/@39.014893,-76.992493,3a,75y,90t/data=!3m5!1e2!3m3!1s106715097!2e1!3e10) Nearby Street Address (not the address to join the walking trail … ) : Vance Place, Franklin Knolls ---
**Author:** ![P-man](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/p-man/32/3606_2.png) [@P-man](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/P-man)\ **Post date:** [April 16, 2015, 11:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-from-dc-area-dopers-and-google-earh-sleuths/716498/15 "2015-04-16T23:51:27Z")
> [@beowulff](#): > > I used to live a mile or so from this spot. > It’s possible this this is the location, but I wouldn’t bet on it. > As I remember, it’s quite difficult to get down to the stream - my friends and I used to walk all the way from Colesville Rd. > As a kid I used to fish at the old damn farther up the stream, but when I was last there it had become completely silted up. The trail by Nothwest Branch never goes into DC. If it’s Beaverdam, the trail could go through the neighborhoods between the DC border and Kenilworth Gardens. I wouldn’t have expected trout to be stocked there, though (I believe there are in NW Branch). I wouldn’t really expect Smallmouths there either. ---
**Author:** ![2gigch1](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/2gigch1/32/3313_2.png) [@2gigch1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/2gigch1)\ **Post date:** [April 17, 2015, 12:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-from-dc-area-dopers-and-google-earh-sleuths/716498/16 "2015-04-17T00:12:16Z")
Upon further review I am changing my opinion to Northwest Branch. [In the photo in this blog the substructure is identical.](http://aroundfourcorners.blogspot.com/2014/03/the-capital-beltway-northwest-branch.html) ---
**Author:** ![P-man](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/p-man/32/3606_2.png) [@P-man](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/P-man)\ **Post date:** [April 17, 2015, 12:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-from-dc-area-dopers-and-google-earh-sleuths/716498/17 "2015-04-17T00:37:03Z")
> [@2gigch1](#): > > Upon further review I am changing my opinion to Northwest Branch. > > [In the photo in this blog the substructure is identical.](http://aroundfourcorners.blogspot.com/2014/03/the-capital-beltway-northwest-branch.html) If it’s NW Branch I should take my fishing pole there. We’re a couple of miles away. ---
**Author:** ![madmonk28](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/madmonk28/32/20811_2.png) [@madmonk28](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/madmonk28)\ **Post date:** [April 17, 2015, 1:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-from-dc-area-dopers-and-google-earh-sleuths/716498/18 "2015-04-17T13:35:48Z")
I’m pretty sure it’s not Northwest Branch (which they do stock, it was just stocked the first week of April) because it is hardly a secret spot. It’s packed with fishers and very accessible. There’s a path that runs right along the stream. ETA: looking at the photos of that bridge, I might not be so sure about my assessment. ---
**Author:** ![Hypno-Toad](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/b2d939/32.png) [@Hypno-Toad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hypno-Toad)\ **Post date:** [April 17, 2015, 1:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-from-dc-area-dopers-and-google-earh-sleuths/716498/19 "2015-04-17T13:41:51Z")
> [@2gigch1](#): > > Upon further review I am changing my opinion to Northwest Branch. > > [In the photo in this blog the substructure is identical.](http://aroundfourcorners.blogspot.com/2014/03/the-capital-beltway-northwest-branch.html) I agree. A photo on google maps of the bridge from within the gorge looks close enough to convince me. ---
**Author:** ![madmonk28](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/madmonk28/32/20811_2.png) [@madmonk28](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/madmonk28)\ **Post date:** [April 17, 2015, 1:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-from-dc-area-dopers-and-google-earh-sleuths/716498/20 "2015-04-17T13:44:25Z")
I now completely change my mind! I believe **2gigch1** might have it! This is only about 20 minutes from my house (or in DC rush hour: 90 minutes). I’ll check it out this weekend and try to take the same pic of the bridge. Thanks to everyone. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-from-dc-area-dopers-and-google-earh-sleuths/716498.md?page=2)