Date visited: 7/6/2022

The inland towns of Rhode Island aren't as interesting as the costal towns, but they do feature many different hiking areas. This nature preserve is one of them. There are a few different blazed trails here, but we walked a 1.5 mile loop trail that incorporated three different trails. We started on the narrow yellow blazed trail and connected to the wider blue blazed via the red blazed trail, which passes the old cemetery. Other than the cemetery, which dates back to the 1800's, this is pretty much just a basic, albeit pleasant, walk in the woods.

Date visited: 9/8/2022

This is one of the many wildlife management areas in Rhode Island. Hunting season starts the second Saturday in September in Rhode Island, and while you can still hike at these places during hunting season if you wear a certain amount of orange, I just prefer not to. So we only had a couple days left to visit this place. We came here after work, and sun sets early so the sun was low in the sky by the time we got here. We hiked about a mile and a half loop. The trail was mostly wide and well maintained, except for the section leading up to the rickety bridge toward the end of the loop. There was also a historic cemetery. We saw some deer across the river, but they were moving too fast and I was not able to get a photo. Other than the bridge and cemetery, the place wasn't that memorable. It was a fine walk in the woods, but probably not worth the hour and twenty minute drive.

More Images

Date visited: 10/24/2023

This is a series of nature preserves jointly maintained by The Nature Conservancy and Hopkinton Land Trust. We hiked a 1.2 mile loop, part of the Hoxie Preserve, which I guess is also part of the Canonchet Preserve. It's all pretty confusing. The sign did say that the preserves were part of the "Borderlands Dark Sky Trail System", which sounds very cool. The hike is a pretty basic walk in the woods, with some classic New England stone walls, but not much else of interest. The fall colors were nice, but other than that, this was pretty much unremarkable.

More Images

Date visited: 7/1/2025

It was a warm and muggy day, so we went on shorter adventures. This is a very easy walking trail that runs parallel to Bushy Brook in the Hope Valley section of Hopkinton. There's a trailhead and parking off Mechanic Street. The north end of the trail exits just behind Depot Square Park. The south end of the trail features an observation platform near where the brook empties to Wood River. The entire walk was less than a mile. It's a good spot if you're looking for a really short walk.

More Images

Date visited: 7/1/2025

This is a mile trail from Canonchet Road to Blue Pond. It's an easy walk with a slight incline down. The trail is lined with Mountain Laurel's, but unfortunately we were a few weeks too late for that. At the end of the trail is a large rock, overlooking the pond. It was a hot and muggy day, so the dogs wasted no time cooling off. Lexi misjudged how deep the water was, and actually wound up swimming. Both dogs really dislike going into the water when it's over their heads! This time around, Lexi seemed pretty fine with it, and seemed happy to be able to cool off for a bit!

More Images

Date visited: 7/15/2025

This is a public fishing area near the "Old Stone Dam". There's a very short trail in the woods that leads to a spot where Mandy and Lexi were able to get into the river. The dogs usually like to just sit down in the shallow water, but Lexi actually did some swimming on here own! Even though this spot is very close to the Brushy Brook Trail, there is private property between the two spots and no access. We did walk to the other side of the dam in Richmond, and also down the street to Tefft Fishing Access.

Date visited: 7/15/2025

This is a small fishing area on the site of an old mill. We walked here from Mechanic Street Fishing Access. There was a nice spot for Mandy and Lexi to get into the water.

Date visited: 8/17/2025

We hiked an easy 1.4 mile loop trail here. It's a pretty standard walk in the woods, with plenty of stone walls and a brand new bridge that was "Cameron's Eagle Project - Troop 121". The trail is well marked and maintained, but there was a very large tree that fell recently, blocking the trail about a third of a mile in. We were able to get around it without too much trouble. This was a nice, short hike, but nothing too special.

More Images