Date visited: 7/15/2022
As I drove into Central Falls, I was greeted with a sign that read "The World In One Square Mile - Central Falls". There happens to be a children's book with the same name. The sign and the book are right, Central Falls is small. It is the smallest town in the smallest state, but it is densely populated. There doesn't appear to be many wooded areas. The All-Trails app had no hikeable trails in Central Falls, but I was able to find this place, River Island Park & Campground. The Rhode Island Parks and Recreation site describes this as "Rhode Island's only urban campground." If I camped, I would not go camping here. The place didn't give me good vibes. There didn't seem to be much of a place to camp here anyway. There is a bridge that goes to the island and a short trail that circles the island. I saw a couple picnic tables, and a few places where you can get to the river. There was a fair amount of trash as well. It also looked like someone had taken up permanent residence under the Broad Street Bridge.
Date visited: 5/17/2023
This is a small city park notable for Cogswell Tower. Built in 1904, the tower is the prominent feature of Central Falls. At times, the tower is open for tours, but wasn't during our visit. We walked the stair case to the top of "Dexter's Ledge", where there are some nice views. Unfortunately, we were there late in the afternoon and the sun was low, which made getting good pictures of the view difficult. There's no real parking lot or anything. We had to park on the street. There are a number of small historic parks in this small city. We drove by a few but there was no parking lots for any of them. This park is nice enough, but not really a "destination". I would say it's a good visit if you are already in Central Falls, but honestly, I can't think of a good reason to be in Central Falls unless you lived or worked there.
Date visited: 7/22/2025
This is a small park on the site of one of the earliest water-powered chocolate mills in North America. Evidently, Central Falls used to be known as "Chocolateville". There are signs with historical information about the mills, and access to the Blackstone River for fishing, or launching small boats. There was also a fair amount of trash around, and the river looked too mucky to let Mandy and Lexi cool of in it. We also took the short walk, about a block west on Charles Street, to Sacred Heart Park.
Date visited: 7/22/2025
We stopped here for a quick visit while checking out Chocolate Mill Overlook. The dog park here is actually quite nice. It's grass surfaced, with both a small and large dog sections. There is agility equipment on both sides, but more on the large side. It's relatively small compared to some parks. There was a single dog on each side when we visited. The park also features a playground and tennis courts.