Geography[edit]
The creek rises from a spring near Laytonsville in Montgomery County, in the U.S. state of Maryland, and joins the Potomac near Georgetown and the Watergate inWashington, D.C. Beginning in the Derwood–Rockville area in Maryland, the creek flows through Rock Creek Regional Park southward to the D.C. boundary. About 9 miles (14 km) of the creek flow though Rock Creek Park in Washington, where it is fed by several small creeks — Piney Branch, Pinehurst Branch, Broad Branch, Soapstone Branch, and Luzon Branch — and numerous storm sewers.
The Chesapeake and Ohio Canal joins Rock Creek in Georgetown, and used the mouth of Rock Creek as its terminus in Georgetown. At the Tidewater Lock, the creek (and the Canal) empty into the Potomac River. This area, called the "Rock Creek Basin" by the Canal Company, which included a mole, causeway, and waste weir was completed in 1831.[3] Subject to silting up, it was dredged several times for the Canal's use.[4]
The Maryland portion of the watershed comprises the second-largest watershed in Montgomery County, about 60 sq mi (160 km2). About 21 percent of the creek's watershed is in Washington. Total land usage in the watershed is 896 acres (3.63 km2) of wetlands or water, 22,272 acres (90.13 km2) of residential and commercial areas, 15,488 acres (62.68 km2) of forest or grasslands, and 10,304 acres (41.70 km2) of agricultural areas. The creek has a fairly steep gradient, with rapid changes in elevation. The man-made Lake Needwood is located on the creek, north of Rockville.
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