This is the first cache to be placed in the Rock Run Stream Valley Park. The parking photo offers a good entry point into the woods. The terrain is quite vertical, but a safe route can be planned. There are no trails.
I live nearby and have thought of placing a cache in the Rock Run valley but couldn't figure out how to get there. Today I prepared a cache, studied maps and drove the length of the park boundary along Capri Place. I parked near the fire hydrant which marks a good place to enter the woods. All of the downhill side of the road is managed by M-NCPPC (Maryland - National Capitol Park and Planning Commission). As the topo map suggested, the slope here was less steep.
Rock Run Stream Valley Park is a narrow, winding park that follows the Rock Run stream along the western and southern edge of the Avenel golf course. It then widens as it passes to the north of the Carderock and Palisades neighborhoods, tapering again along the eastern edge of the Naval Surface Warfare Center to the C&O Canal. The park is undeveloped for active recreation, and was acquired by M-NCPPC in 1981.
There's a nice view of the stream from the cache location; I sat and listened to the creek for a while. Nearby there was a cafe for two (see photo), but the chairs have been removed. The cache is well hidden. There is plenty of natural camo in the area, please take a minute after your find to make sure it is well hidden.
Congratulations to Serrabou (and Roo) for taking First to Find honors. Nothereeither deserves Second to Find recognition since he arrived soon enough to meet Serrabou not far from the cache.