Date visited: 7/4/2022

It was probably a mistake going here on the 4th of July. I was unaware that the town of Bristol has an annual 4th of the July parade, right near this park. In fact, it is the oldest running 4th of July celebration in the country, and of course I randomly picked the 4th of July to visit! The roads were just re-opening as we arrived. This meant that the park was really busy! We planned to hike the loop trail defined in the All-Trails app, but we had to modify it a bit. There were not enough places for the dogs to get into the water to cool off, so we adjusted the route to stay in the shade as much as we could. It was just too busy here. We probably would have done better on a different day. We did get some great pictures, especially the one where the I got the seagull to pose along with the dogs!

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Date visited: 10/6/2022

This is a small park near a marina, featuring a grassy area and some war monuments. The south end of the East Bay Bike Path starts here as well. The paved walking path circles around the park.

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Date visited: 10/6/2022

See Also: Providence, East Providence, Barrington, Warren, Bristol

We walked the stretch of bike path from Independence Park to the "right of way" area about 2 miles north. This is the southern end of the bike path that runs all the way to Providence. This section traverses along side the coast, and past Colt Park. This is a scenic stretch, that was quite busy. It passes some businesses and restaurants. One of the restaurants had a guitarist playing live music as we passed. The "right of way" area I mentioned is interesting. It's a small area that is sandwiched between two parcels of private property. There are steps that lead right down to the water. Overall, this is one of the better streches of bike path that we have walked.

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Date visited: 8/30/2024

This was the first stop on four mile walking tour of the downtown Bristol area. We parked at the lot at Independence Park, and proceeded south on the Stone Harbor Condominium Boardwalk, which is open to the public. After passing Thames Waterside Bar and Grill, there is another public boardwalk that leads to two small parks, Rockwell Park and Bristol Fireman's Memorial Park. From here, we proceeded down Thames Street, to our next stop.

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Date visited: 8/30/2024

This is a small public waterfront access spot at the end of Constitution Street. It is sandwiched between the Elks Club and a Coast Guard station. This was a stop along our tour of the downtown Bristol area. Mandy and Lexi enjoyed cooling off here, before we headed down Hope Street toward our next stop.

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Date visited: 8/30/2024

The sign at the park reads "Halsey Chase Herreshoff Park", but most maps have this park labeled as "Walley Park". This is a nice park with a small parking area that is for Bristol residents only. We arrived by foot, so that wasn't an issue. There's a small beach area here, as well as some nice areas to relax and enjoy the view. Also included in the pictures below is the area just to the north of here, the Prudence Island ferry port. Across the street is the Herreshoff Marine Museum, where they have an Artisan Market every Friday during the summer. This was the mid-point of our adventure around the downtown Bristol area, and from here we headed back up Hope Street toward our next stop.

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Date visited: 8/30/2024

This is yet another small waterfront access point in downtown Bristol, where the dogs could cool off. There is a very small park area and beach here. After a brief stop here, we continued on our Downtown Bristol adventure.

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Dates visited: 8/30/2024 & 12/13/2024

This is the historic downtown area, mostly along Thames Street, Hope Street and State Street, with shops, restaurants, and museums. We also walked up State Street to the Town Common before heading back to Independence Park where we parked and completing our four mile adventure.

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We returned for another walk around Downtown Bristol. This time the goal was to take some Christmas photos. We missed Bristol's annual Christmas Festival because it was held the same date and time as Newport's, but the decorations were still up! Our walk started at Bristol Common, and wrapped up near Unity Park.

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Dates visited: 8/30/2024 & 12/13/2024

This is the town common, with athletic fields, a playground and a gazebo.

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We started our Holiday walk through Bristol at the Town Common, taking pictures at the gazebo and at Santa's House, before heading through the downtown area and Unity Park.

Date visited: 8/31/2024

We parked at a small parking lot on the west side of Route 114, just before the Mount Hope Bridge. There is one hour parking here, and a monument to the bridge explaining the history of it's construction. We crossed the street and headed up to the Roger Williams University main entrance. We didn't really walk through the campus or anything, we mainly just walked the sidewalk between the road and the university property. I love the fountain at the entrance! After that, we headed down Old Ferry Road, which leads to a public waterfront access point. It is a popular fishing spot. The access point abuts the university's property, and also seems to be a party spot for students. There was a lot of trash and litter here! I imagine some of the people fishing leave their trash here too. It's really a shame that people treat nature like this! Other than the trash, it is a nice spot where the dogs could cool off, with cool views of the Mount Hope Bridge.

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Date visited: 12/13/2024

Unity Park isn't really a park in the conventional sense. It's an old industrial park that has been transformed into a commercial space with a variety of businesses. We stopped here toward the end of our holiday walk through downtown Bristol.