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◂︎ Mandy & Lexi's Rhode Island Adventures
Middletown
Middletown Valley Park
Date visited: 7/22/2022
When I arrived, I kinda thought this place was pretty "meh". It's basically a stone dust loop through a field behind a strip mall. But we got about half way through and encountered three deer! They were definitely staring me down, but I like to think they were just posing for their pictures. You can see them in the background behind Mandy and Lexi in one of the photos, but I included some better pictures of just the deer as well! Aside from the wildlife, it was a good thing we were here just before sunset. It was one of the hottest days of the year, and there is absolutely no shade on this trail whatsoever. Luckily, by this time of the evening, the temperature had dropped into the upper 70's and the walk was quite pleasant.
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Sachuest Beach
Date visited: 10/7/2022
This beach is also known as "Second Beach". I guess the "First Beach" is Easton's Beach at the start of Cliff Walk in Newport. There is also a Third Beach on the other side of the peninsula that we visited afterward. As for "Second Beach", it's a nice long beach that we walked end to end. It was about 2.5 miles total. It was also quite breezy here, which made it feel cooler than the mid seventies temperature. The waves are strong here, as this beach faces southwest and opens up to the open ocean. The water looked puprlish at the north end, due to the burgandy color sediment on the beach. Toward the end of our walk, we encountered Horseback riders. Dogs are only allowed here from October 1st thru April 30th. They are actually also allowed all year between the hours of 5 and 7:45 AM, but there's little chance of me ever visiting this beach that early!
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Sachuest Beach
Date visited: 10/23/2024
This was our second trip to this beach. We walked the length of the beach two years prior, and also snuck on to the "surfer's end" this summer while visitng Purgatory Chasm. I think we've visited every beach in Rhode Island that allow dogs (and even a few that don't) over the past few years, so we're repeating some of the nicer ones now. We again walked the length of the one mile beach and back, this time starting at "surfer's end" and turning around at the wildlife refuge property border, since dogs aren't allowed past that point. Since the walk was only two miles, we walked a miles up Tuckerman Avenue to Wolcott Avenue and Tuckerman Avenue public waterfront access points before returning to the beach. It was a sunny day at the start of the adventure, but completely overcast by the time we finished. Still a nice day for a walk on a beach.
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Third Beach
Date visited: 10/7/2022
We visited this beach immediately after visiting Sachuest Beach (Second Beach). It was about a minute drive away on the other side of the little peninsula. This beach faces east and opens up to a cove, so the waves are much milder than on Second Beach. It was also much less windy here. This beach is smaller as well, maybe half the size. We also encountered the horseback riders here as well. I'm not sure Mandy and Lexi understand horses all that much! I think they think they are giant dogs!
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Peabody's Beach
Date visited: 9/14/2024
This is the beach area just north of Third Beach. We may have overlapped a section of this beach when we visited that beach two years ago. This time we entered via the entrance off of Third Beach Avenue and we explored the rocks at the north end of the beach. Like Third Beach, this beach is tucked inside a cove so the waves are mild. This worked out well for the dogs, as they were able to easily cool off in the water!
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Sakonnet Greenway
Date visited: 9/26/2022
This is a 13 mile trail in the towns of Middletown and Portsmouth. We did not walk all 13 miles! We walked a four mile loop in Middletown. We started at the trail head at the Newport Vineyard parking lot. The trail actually goes right through the vineyard! It's an interesting trail with some varied landscapes, but most of it went through open fields. I wouldn't want to walk this trail in the middle of the summer, as 90% of it has no shade. It's a very nice trail, but I could do without the section that runs alongside Route 138 for a quarter of a mile. There was a shortcut around that section that we should have taken. Other than that, it was pretty great! We'll have to come back and do the Portsmouth section some day.
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Sakonnet Greenway
Date visited: 9/20/2023
We returned and hiked the middle section of the trail that connects the two sections in Middletown and Portsmouth that we previously hiked. This entire section borders the Newport National Golf Club. Some sections of the trail are actually shared with the golf carts. Much of this section is not shaded, so this wouldn't be a great trail on a real hot day, but it was perfect for the day we visited. Parts of this section of the trail are in both towns. The pictures below are from the Middletown section. You can see the Portsmouth pictures on that page.
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Spruce Acres Farm
Date visited: 9/26/2022
We hiked a short 1+ mile loop trail that straddes the towns of Middletown and Portsmouth. These are the pictures from the Middletown section. You can read more about the trail on the Portsmouth page.
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Dunlap Wheeler Park
Date visited: 1/27/2023
This park is a small area just over the border from Newport, next to Easton's Beach. There is a grassy area with some cool trees that have grown sideways! Mandy and Lexi decided to climb one of them! There's also a public access path to a small beach called Atlantic Beach just outside the park. Pictures from that area are included here as well.
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Dunlap Wheeler Park
Date visited: 8/13/2024
We passed through this park a second time, this time in the summer, on our way to Atlantic Beach. Other than the grass being a brighter green now, it doesn't look much different in the summer.
Atlantic Beach
Date visited: 8/13/2024
This is the beach area behind Newport Beach House, a venue that hosts weddings and other events. The public can access the beach when there are no events. I guess Tuesday afternoons are not big wedding days, as there were no events happening while we were here. I didn't see any "No Dogs" signs or anything. This beach is separated from Easton's Beach by a small stream, which also serves as the town line between Middletown and Newport. Mandy and Lexi enjoyed cooling off in the small stream. There's a red algae in the water, so the dogs didn't go into the water anywhere near the algae, but it made for some interesting photos. There's a rocky area on the far end of the beach which is very scenic. We had passed through this beach once before in the winter, while visiting Dunlap Wheeler Park, which is adjacent to this beach. It's a different experience in the summer time. This beach area was the highlight of our four mile adventure that also included Braga Park and Easton Pond in Newport.
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Atlantic Beach
Date visited: 7/6/2025
This was pretty much a repeat of our trip here last August. We once again parked at Braga Park in Newport, and used the walking path around Easton Pond to reach Memorial Avenue, where we walked along the sidewalk in front of Easton's Beach, and through Dunlap Wheeler Park to reach this spot. It's a little over a mile walk to reach this beach that way, but it saves us the parking fees and the stress of finding a spot on the street. Plus, I needed the steps anyway! The red algae from last time was still present, so the Mandy & Lexi only went in the water on the western end of the beach, near the creek that separates this beach from Easton's Beach. We stayed at the beach about 20 minutes or so, before heading back to the car the way we came.
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Pebble Beach
Date visited: 8/6/2023
I read an article online about Rhode Island's secret beaches. Well, this one is so secret, it wasn't even in the article. I found this very small beach by looking at Google Maps on my phone. There are exactly four parking spots here, with signs warning against parking anywhere but in the four spots. Fortunately, when we arrived, only three of the spots were filled. There is a very short trail that leads down to the beach. This isn't a sandy beach, it's full of pebbles...hence the name. Mandy was able to cool off, but Lexi wanted no part of the waves. This is a pretty nice place to get away for a few minutes..as long as one of the parking spots is open!
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Taggart's Ferry Rd. Shoreline Access
Date visited: 6/7/2024
This public waterfront access point is primarily used as a fishing spot. Parking is at the end of Taggart's Ferry Road. There's a rocky beach area, with a great seawall protecting an elaborate dwelling of some sort. It made a great backdrop for photos, and is a good spot for dogs to cool off on a warm day.
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Purgatory Chasm
Date visited: 6/7/2024
This is not an adventure for anyone scared of heights. The chasm is a naturally occurring geological feature, creating a 10 foot gap between two cliffs. There's a short path that leads to a bridge over the chasm. Due to the narrowness of the bridge, I couldn't get a great photo of the dogs on the bridge, with an angle that shows the chasm. I've included a picture of just the chasm. It's quite a site. There were kids swimming in the chasm while we were visiting. There are also some really short side trails that lead to the edge of rocky cliffs that offer breath-taking views of the shoreline and Nearby Sachuest Beach. There's also a trail that runs along side Purgatory Road, to "Surfer's End", the part of the beach used by surfers. There were a lot of people surfing here on this day. Along the trail is a small grassy area with benches, that overlooks the beach and shoreline, but does not require standing on the edge of a cliff. The small parking area at the chasm has signs that warn "30 Minute Parking" only, as they probably don't want people parking here for the beach. This was the fourth stop of the day, and a nice adventure to end a busy warm summer afternoon.
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Linden Park
Date visited: 9/6/2024
This is a small park with a large grassy area and a playground, but that's about it. We stopped here to get a few extra steps. It's smack dab in the middle of a commercial strip, as you can see from the iHop in the background. It's a good place to stop to let the dogs out to stretch their legs and take care of business, but there is no real long walk here.
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Paradise Valley Park
Date visited: 9/14/2024
This is a nice park next to the Middletown Historical Society. The main feature here is the Boyd's Windmill, the only eight vane windmill ever built in New England. The windmill is pictured on the Middletown town seal. The park also features a gazebo, a monument area, a number of benches, and some stone dust and mowed walking trails. A doggie poop bag dispenser is also provided. This is a nice place to just stop and chill out for a bit.
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Wolcott Avenue Shoreline Access
Date visited: 10/23/2024
This is the first of two waterfront public access points we walked to after our Sachuest Beach adventure. There's no parking on the road, so you have to walk here from elsewhere. A narrow trail leads down to a steep, rocky waterfront.
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Tuckerman Avenue Shoreline Access
Dates visited: 10/23/2024 & 10/25/2024
We initially stopped here briefly after visiting Wolcott Avenue Shoreline Access, but it was overcast and I didn't have the proper footwear for the rocks. We took one quick photo and left. Two days later, we were in the area, and it was sunny, and I wasn't wearing beach sandals, so we returned and explored this area properly! This is a very scenic spot. A gravel road leads to the rocky waterfront with great views of Newport bay, the mansions, Cliff Walk, and Easton's Beach. We first headed south along the rocks in front of the "Clambake Club of Newport". We turned around when the terrain became a little too rugged and headed north, almost reaching the spot we left off when we visited Atlantic Beach this summer. We stopped in the middle and sat for a bit, just watching the waves hit the rocks. It was well worth the return visit!
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Shore Road Shoreline Access
Date visited: 1/12/2025
There is no parking anywhere near this shoreline access point. We actually parked at Easton's Beach in Newport, and walked through Dunlap Wheeler Park, Atlantic Beach, and Esplanade to get here. It sounds long, but the whole walk was about 1.6 miles out and back, so it wasn't too bad. The access point is between two very expensive homes, and leads to a rocky area, between Atlantic Beach and the Tuckerman Avenue Access Point. Like those places, it's a scenic spot with waves hitting the rocks. The sun was starting to set while we were here, adding to the beauty of the scenery.
Esplanade
Date visited: 1/12/2025
Esplanade is actually a side street that runs along side the rocky part of Atlantic Beach. There's an access point with cement stairs that leads down to the beach. According to Google Maps, there is another access point on the other end, but it looks like someone has roped it off and stuck a "Private Property" sign in front of it. We walked along the street here on the way to the Shore Road Shoreline Access Point. There is a grassy area that overlooks the rocks and the ocean below. It's a popular place with the dog walkers, as we passed at least a dozen people walking their pups here. There are actually monuments along side the road dedicated to people's pets that have passed. It's pretty sweet.
Demery Memorial Park
Date visited: 7/6/2025
This park is basically a large, open field with one bench sitting smack in the middle of the field. There are no trails or anything here. The park is mowed and well maintained. A tree line along the south end of the park creates a shady walkway, but the rest of the park is pretty much out in the open. Along the eastern end of the park is a farm, and beyond that there are views of the bay in the distance. We looped around the park twice. It was calm and peaceful.
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