Northwest Branch has fabulous natural surface hiking trails on both sides of the stream: the Northwest Branch Trail on the western side, and the Rachel Carson Greenway Trail on the eastern side. Both offer miles of trails for casual walkers, families with small children, dog walking, and runners alike. All without driving miles out of the city!
There is plenty of parking at the parking lot/trailhead located off Colesville Rd/Columbia Pike, across the street and slightly down from Trader Joe's. Take the Rachel Carson Greenway Trail, which starts right at the parking lot, just above the dam on the right. There is a side trail about a third of a mile from the parking lot that leads to the cache area (see the waypoints).
This cache is suitable for winter caching except for the rare snowfall of greater than 3". No night caching.
Despite the obvious nod to Hitchcock, there is nothing scary about this cache. And because this is Team GeoLTL's very first cache hide, we decided to stick with something a bit traditional. Something that the whole family can enjoy. There is room for trackables and small swappable items. If you feel like trading, please leave something of similar value or greater. In keeping with the cardinal directions in the cache name, we've started things off with hiking and outdoorsy things: compasses and carabiners.