Get Out

Rhode Island is packed full of Nature -- get out and explore it!

by Mary Grady
June 2006

Welcome!
Did you think hiking is only in New Hampshire? We have lots of great trails right here in Rhode Island. Get out and explore!

You can have this trail at Kettle Pond Visitor Center all to yourself.
          
Take time to enjoy the tiny landscapes along the path.
          
Boaters prepare to launch at George Washington Management Area.
          
Stones in Watchaug Pond...

...and ferns along the trail.
           		Hiking in Rhode Island

Our local trails may lack the dramatic appeal of the mountains to the north, but they offer many advantages... the best is you can get an early start on a weekend morning, enjoy a great three or four hours of hiking, and still be home by lunchtime. Along the way are lakes and ponds, pine groves and oak forests, open fields and cedar trees, blue skies and cool breezes. And while some of the popular mountain trails can get as gridlocked as Route 128 on a summer day, you'll have Rhode Island's wide, wild woodlands practically all to yourself.

Where to begin?

If you're new to R.I. hiking, plenty of resources are available to help you get started. You can find trail maps online for all the Audubon refuges and the entire North-South Trail. A few places you can explore without maps, but for most, they're essential.

If you're eager to get outside right now, here are a few places to go where you can enjoy great views, find well-marked trails, and get some exercise, no planning necessary... but be sure to bring water, binoculars, sturdy shoes, sunscreen, and bug spray!

Sachuest Point National Wildlife Refuge, in Middletown, has beautiful trails that follow the coastline.

Audubon's Fisherville Brook Refuge in Exeter has well-marked trails through varied terrain, with woods and fields and a pond. You can download a trail map online, but you don't even really need it.

Other good introductory Audubon sites include Caratunk, in Seekonk, Mass., and Powder Mills Ledges, in Smithfield. Go to Audubon's site for more details and printable hiking maps.

If you're ready now to do some planning for your next hike, you can't go wrong starting out with Ken Weber's well-loved "Walks of Rhode Island" book, now in its fourth edition. It features a variety of hikes of all levels and lengths, with vivid descriptions and detailed maps. You can buy it online or find it at your local bookshop. The Appalachian Mountain Club publishes a Rhode Island trail guide, which also includes Massachusetts trails.

The state's Tourism Office Web site offers a nice sampling of hikes, for birdwatching, coastal views, even an urban garden hike. Pictures and links make this a useful site. All state parks and Audubon refuges have trails. Some Audubon sites charge a small fee, state parks are free. Audubon's Web site has printable trail maps. For hiking along the south coast, the Friends of the National Wildlife Refuges have a birding trail and a coastal hike posted online. The birding trail info tells you what birds you're likely to see in which locations. Rhode Island Monthly describes ten choice hikes in this archived article from June 2004. Choose a destination from the dropdown menu, for detailed descriptions of hikes from Beavertail to Buck Hill.

Another way to start planning your hikes is with maps. The Map Center, on North Main Street in Providence, keeps an enormous array of maps of all types and sizes. You can find topographic maps, detailed hiking maps, and state maps to help you get oriented. If you're one of the many who are clueless when it comes to reading a map, it's fun and easy to learn. The Map Center's Web site has some brief intros that will help you out. Visit in person to get an expert guided tour of your options from shop owner Andy Nosal. My own favorite hiking maps are those produced by Great Swamp Press, you can find them at Andy's and at various wildlife refuge gift shops.

Gear

You don't need much to get started. Sturdy hiking boots are worth the investment, but for a beginner on a short hike, any comfortable shoes with treaded soles will do. Bring water. A small backpack can come in handy. Maps, binoculars, a camera, snacks, are nice to have. A hiking stick can be useful for fording streams, but you can generally find a stick in the woods if you need one.

How did we get this great close-up of an egret? Visit Kettle Pond Visitor Center, off Route 1 in Charlestown, to find out.
Enhance your experience

There's more to a hike than just a forced march in the woods. Don't rush. Linger and explore the nooks and views all around you. Bring a picnic lunch, or some art materials, or a camera, and spend some time. Bring a compass or a GPS and teach yourself how to read a map. Find a stream and take your shoes off, and feel the cool water and the smooth rocks. Bring a field guide (browse your local bookstore or Amazon) and learn to identify the trees, the birds, the creatures all around you. Try hiking on a wet or foggy or snowy day. Best of all, bring people you like to spend time with, and enjoy each other's company.

Expand your frontiers

The North-South Trail runs 75 miles from the Atlantic Ocean to the Massachusetts border. The Web site includes detailed maps of the various segments.

If you'd like to mix a little natural history in with your exercise, the Rhode Island Wild Plant Society schedules frequent naturalist-led hikes. The Rhode Island Sierra Club also schedules frequent guided hikes in scenic areas of the state.

In Southern Rhode Island, the Wood-Pawcatuck Watershed Association schedules frequent guided hikes, kayak trips, and more. A schedule is posted online.

Tick worries

But what about the hazards out there? We're lucky that we have no poisonous snakes or dangerous wild animals in Rhode Island. But we do have deer ticks (a.k.a. black-legged ticks), which can spread Lyme disease. A few simple precautions can minimize your exposure.

The R.I. Department of Environmental Management Web site recommends these preventive measures:
-- Tuck your pants into your socks when hiking. Ticks live on the ground and crawl upward till they find a place to bite.
-- Use Permethrin on clothes to kill ticks, and use DEET on exposed skin to repel them.
-- After you leave the woods, do a thorough check and remove any ticks you find. Wearing light-colored clothes will help make them easier to spot.
-- If you do get bitten by a tick, the DEM site has detailed instructions on how to identify it and remove it safely. Not all ticks are deer ticks, and only deer ticks carry Lyme disease.
-- It takes about 24 hours for an infected tick to transmit Lyme disease, and about half will transmit it within 48 hours of a bite. Fewer than half of deer ticks carry the disease.
-- These precautions, followed by a shower with a thorough extra check after you get home, should go a long way to allay tick worries and help you enjoy the woods.

You can learn more about ticks and Lyme disease from this site hosted by the R.I. Department of Health.

A trail from Kettle Pond Visitor Center leads to this secluded spot on Watchaug Pond.
Poison ivy

A brief encounter with poison ivy can leave you with an itchy rash that spreads and persists for weeks. Key is to simply avoid it, and the best way to do that is to learn to recognize it. The plant has a compound leaf made up three leaflets on a stalk, and the younger leaves, especially in spring, often have a reddish, shiny look. The edges of the leaflets may be lobed, smooth or toothed. Poison ivy grows in sun or shade, and likes the edges of paths and roads. It's often found growing like a carpet along the ground, but can also form vines and climb tree trunks, stone walls, and fences. The vine stems are woody and fuzzy, and look like thick rope twined around a tree. Summertime foliage is either dull or glossy green. Fall foliage can be yellow, red or orange. Keep an eye out for it and soon you'll recognize it and keep clear. Here are some pictures to help, and more details from the National Park Service.

"They deem me mad because I will not sell my days for gold; and I deem them mad because they think my days have a price." -- Kahlil Gibran


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