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Tree Eating a Bike — Foundry Branch Trestle, Washington, DC

The rusty frame and seat of an old bicycle sticking out of an ivy-covered tree trunk on the Foundry Branch Trestle in Georgetown, Washington, DC
Artwork FileWashington, DC, USA

Tree Eating a Bike

SeenJul 2026

Unknown · Foundry Branch Trestle, Glover Archbold Park, Georgetown, Washington, DC, USA

Photo: G. Edward Johnson / Wikimedia Commons (CC BY 4.0), as published in Street Art Utopia.

An old bicycle sits in a tree growing on top of a pier of the Foundry Branch Trestle, a disused trolley bridge in Georgetown. Source Source Checked According to the photographer’s description on Wikimedia Commons, someone once left the bike in the fork of the tree, and the tree has since grown around it. Source Reported

Seen Jul 2026: G. Edward Johnson photographed the bike in the tree on 23 July 2026. Source Checked

💡 4 things to know

  1. The tree swallowed itA large tree grows on top of one of the bridge abutments. Someone put a bicycle in its fork and left it, and the tree grew around it, the Commons description says. Source Reported
  2. A known curiosityA 2017 Georgetown Current story on the closed trail under the bridge listed a bicycle lodged in a tree atop the bridge among the curiosities at the site. Source Reported
  3. On an old trolley bridgeAtlas Obscura says the 280-foot trestle carried the streetcar line from Georgetown to Glen Echo, Maryland, which opened in 1896; the last trolleys crossed in January 1960. Source Reported
  4. Look from the groundAtlas Obscura warns that the trestle is unstable and not fit for climbing, and should be enjoyed from ground level. Source Reported

📍 Where it is

On a pier of the Foundry Branch Trestle at the southern end of Glover Archbold Park, Georgetown, Washington, DC. Source Source Checked

Open in Maps

Opens a map at the Foundry Branch Trestle.

🗓️ Sightings

  1. 20175 May

    Atlas Obscura entry added; a photo caption notes the bicycle consumed by a tree

  2. 201715 Jun

    Georgetown Current: a bicycle lodged in a tree atop the bridge

  3. 2019

    Atlas Obscura user photo from the eastern pier shows the bike in the tree

  4. 202623 Jul

    Photo: the tree has grown around the bike

Green stamps mark dated photographs; amber stamps mark records, events and reports; red stamps mark loss. Publication dates are not camera dates.

🗞️ In the sources

The Georgetown Dish (Georgetown Current)15 June 2017

Bridge Hazard Still Forcing Trail Closure

“Other curiosities at the site include a bicycle lodged in a tree atop the bridge.”

The bike in the tree was already a known oddity of the bridge in 2017.

Read the source →

✅ The facts

What it is
An old bicycle consumed by a tree on top of a bridge pier Source Source Checked
Who left it
Unknown; someone put the bike in the fork of the tree Source Unconfirmed
Location
Foundry Branch Trestle, southern end of Glover Archbold Park, Georgetown Source Source Checked
Line opened
1896 Source Reported
Bridge length
280 feet Source Reported
Railway
Washington and Great Falls Electric Railway, to Glen Echo Source Reported
Last trolleys
January 1960 Source Reported
Bridge owner
Metro (WMATA) Source Reported
Last seen
Photographed 23 July 2026 Source Checked

🔗 Related

All sources & image credits

Last checked: 12 November 2026 · How we verify art