[xraystyle]

This guy networks.

But yes, generally the actual physical location and routing of fiber optic cables is not made public by the companies that run it for a number of reasons. If you're leasing fiber you can request maps of the circuits from the company providing it, but there's generally no way to obtain this info outside of this type of business relationship.

Additionally, when purchasing a long-distance circuit, the provider selling you the circuit may not be the company that actually ran the cable. You might have to go several layers deeper until you get to whoever actually owns the fiber. For example, connections like MPLS VLLs present as a direct layer 2 connection but can pass through numerous other network providers' core networks underneath.

This all means that keeping track of layer 1 is pretty much impossible outside of the circuits you pay for yourself.