Northwest branch trail silver spring md 20200830 122236 1

The Northwest Branch Trail is a multi-use (hiking, biking, equestrian) trail that follows the Northwest Branch of the Anacostia River in the

Maryland Maryland ( ) is a state in the Mid-Atlantic region of the United States. It shares borders with Virginia, West Virginia, and the District of Columbia to its south and west; Pennsylvania to its north; and Delaware and the Atlantic Ocean to ...

suburbs of

Washington DC ) , image_skyline = , image_caption = Clockwise from top left: the Washington Monument and Lincoln Memorial on the National Mall, United States Capitol, Logan Circle, Jefferson Memorial, White House, Adams Morgan, ...

. It is part of the

Rachel Carson Greenway The Rachel Carson Greenway is a planned 25-mile stretch of trails, spanning from the historic Adelphi Mill in Prince George's County north through eastern Montgomery County, Maryland to Patuxent River State Park, and incorporating existing Nor ...

and the

Anacostia Tributary Trail System The Anacostia Tributary Trail System (ATTS) is a unified and signed system of stream valley trails joining trails along the Anacostia tributaries of Northwest Branch, Northeast Branch, Indian Creek and Paint Branch with a trail along the Ana ...

. It runs between the Layhill neighborhood of Silver Spring and Bladensburg in Montgomery and

Prince George's County ) , demonym = Prince Georgian , ZIP codes = 20607–20774 , area codes = 240, 301 , founded date = April 23 , founded year = 1696 , named for = Prince George of Denmark , leader_title = Executive , leader_name = Angela D. Alsobrook ...

, Maryland, USA.

Background

The trail starts in Bladensburg, Prince George's County, Maryland, and runs north following the Northwest Branch of the Anacostia River, ending in the Layhill neighborhood of Montgomery County, Maryland. It connects with a number of other trails including the

Sligo Creek Trail Sligo Creek Trail is a paved hiker-biker trail running along Sligo Creek in the suburbs of Washington, D.C. Most of the trail passes through tree-filled parkland. The trail and surrounding park is a popular place for locals to jog, walk, bicyc ...

Carole Highlands Carole Highlands is an unincorporated community located in Prince George's County, Maryland, United States. Carole Highlands is contained between East West Highway (MD 410) to the south, University Boulevard (MD 193) to the north, Larch Avenue, Ho ...

. The lower third of the trail, which is paved, runs from Bladensburg to the Prince George's-Montgomery county line in Adelphi near

New Hampshire Avenue New Hampshire Avenue is a diagonal street in Washington, D.C., beginning at the Kennedy Center and extending northeast for about 5 miles (8 km) and then continuing into Maryland where it is designated Maryland Route 650. New Hampshire Avenue ...

and Piney Branch Road, then continues approximately 1.26 miles into Montgomery County. The paved trail then terminates around trail mile 7.26, at the southern terminus of the

and the Capital Beltway. Once the trail crosses the county line it runs to the Burnt Mills Dam. The dam is the site of the former Camp Woodrow Wilson, the two Georgian Revival pump houses of the

Robert B. Morse Filtration Plant The Washington Suburban Sanitary Commission (WSSC Water) is a bi-county political subdivision of the State of Maryland that provides safe drinking water and wastewater treatment for Montgomery and Prince George's Counties in Maryland except ...

, and is now the Burnt Mills Dam parks (East and West). From the dam the trail proceeds north to

Wheaton Regional Park Wheaton Regional Park is a public park and county-designated protected area, located in Wheaton, Maryland. It is operated and managed by Montgomery County Parks (Montgomery Parks), a division of a bi-county agency, Maryland-National Capital Park ...

. Between the Burnt Mills Dam trailhead on

Colesville Road U.S. Route 29 (US 29) is a north–south United States highway that runs for from the western suburbs of Baltimore, Maryland, to Pensacola, Florida. In the U.S. state of Maryland, US 29 is a major highway that emerges from Washington, D. ...

and Kemp Mill Road near Wheaton Regional Park the trail runs along the west side of the Northwest Branch creek. This is a natural multi-use surface trail. On the east side of the creek is the Rachel Carson Greenway trail, a hiker-only trai.

Theodore Roosevelt Theodore Roosevelt Jr. ( ; October 27, 1858 – January 6, 1919), often referred to as Teddy or by his initials, T. R., was an American politician, statesman, soldier, conservationist, naturalist, historian, and writer who served as the 26t ...

considered the portion of the trail south of the Burnt Mills Dam parks one of his favorite places. The rocky area known as the "Torrent and Gorge", section is the geological

fall line A fall line (or fall zone) is the area where an upland region and a coastal plain meet and is typically prominent where rivers cross it, with resulting rapids or waterfalls. The uplands are relatively hard crystalline basement rock, and the coa ...

between the

Piedmont it, Piemontese , population_note = , population_blank1_title = , population_blank1 = , demographics_type1 = , demographics1_footnotes = , demographics1_title1 = , demographics1_info1 = , demographics1_title2 ...

and

Atlantic coastal plain The Atlantic Ocean is the second-largest of the world's five oceans, with an area of about . It covers approximately 20% of Earth#Surface, Earth's surface and about 29% of its water surface area. It is known to separate the "Old World" of Afr ...

regions, which forms a small

waterfall A waterfall is a point in a river or stream where water flows over a vertical drop or a series of steep drops. Waterfalls also occur where meltwater drops over the edge of a tabular iceberg or ice shelf. Waterfalls can be formed in several wa ...

. The Northwest Branch Trail Corridor was officially renamed as the

in 2004.

References

External links

* * {{Maryland hiking trails Protected areas of Montgomery County, Maryland Protected areas of Prince George's County, Maryland Hiking trails in Maryland