Little Falls Creek at the First Pedestrian Bridge

Managed by Little Falls Watershed Alliance

Little Falls Creek at the First Pedestrian Bridge is located in the beautiful 160-acre Little Falls Stream Valley Park at the heart of the Little Falls Watershed downstream from the Massachusetts Avenue entrance. The park has no facilities but is home to the lovely 3.5 mile Little Falls Valley trail along the creek. It starts in Bethesda, MD, near Norwood Park and runs along the Little Falls Parkway, then parallel with the Capital Crescent trail all the way to MacArthur Boulevard in Washington, DC. The trail is wonderful for kids, walking dogs, jogging, biking, or simply taking a stroll. Lots of wildlife has been spotted here, including owls, foxes, and various songbirds and ducks.

There is parking at the gravel parking lot at the intersection of Massachusetts Ave and Little Falls Parkway in Bethesda, MD. The site is about 1/2 mile downstream from the Massachusetts entrance. The creek has a small beach in this spot as well as several pools. This area is also accessible by foot at the end of Brookeway Drive in the Sumner neighborhood.

photo by Cameron Conway. Thanks for letting us use it.

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Water Quality

Met water quality standards less than 60% of the time
Historical Status
This status is based on the latest sample, taken on September 15th, 2022. Little Falls Watershed Alliance updates the status of this beach as soon as test results become available. These results were posted to Swim Guide on September 15th, 2022 at 4:29 PM.

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Monitoring Frequency

Source Information

Little Falls Watershed Alliance has trained volunteers monitor water quality at several locations in the Little Falls Watershed, a sub-watershed of the Potomac. Monitoring occurs every other week from July through mid-September. Parameters to be monitored include levels of E.Coli, pH, and temperature. The samples are processed by the Anacostia Riverkeeper water quality lab.

The primary parameter of concern is E. coli, a fecal coliform. E. coli is measured in terms of the Most Probable Number /100 ml water and high levels are an indicator of fecal contamination by warm-blooded animals like birds and mammals.

The MD Primary Contact Water Quality Standards are as follows:
• E. coli single sample value = 410 MPN/100mL
• E. coli geometric mean = 126 MPN/100mL

The Little Falls and Willett Branch are rated against these values. PASS indicates the E. coli single sample value is less than or equal to 410 MPN/100mL. FAIL indicates bacteria counts of over 410 MPN/100mL.

Water Quality Graph