Newport

◂︎ Mandy & Lexi's Rhode Island Adventures

Newport

Cliff Walk

Dates visited: 6/5/2022 & 6/28/2024

This was another great trip to Rhode Island. We walked the Northern half of the Cliff Walk trail. The trail hugs the Eastern Newport coast. The entire trail runs 3 1/2 miles, but since we have to walk out and back, that would be 7 miles to walk the whole thing. That is a little bit much for the dogs, well Mandy anyway. The section we did walk was mostly paved, except for the short segment on the rocks. We also checked out Easton's Beach which is on the North end of the trail. The weather was perfect for this walk. It was 66 degrees, sunny and breezy. A small section of the trail between Narragansett Avenue and Webster Street was closed, and there was a short detour set up. The trail runs right by Salve Regina University, which made a nice backdrop for some of the pictures. We turned around once we hit Belmont Beach, a small, rocky, beachy area after the boulder section. The dogs were able to check out the water here. We eventually returned, and finished the southern section of this wonderful trail.

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It took us over two years, but we finally made it back to complete the southern portion of this trail. The challenge is parking. There is no public parking anywhere near the southern end of the Cliff Walk, at least none available during the summer months. For this trip, we actually parked at "Forty Steps", which is where we parked the first time. Instead of following the Cliff Walk from that point, we headed out Narragansett Avenue to Bellevue Avenue, and took Marine Avenue which leads to Belmont Beach, where we left off the first time. From there, we headed south along the trail until it's end at Rejects Beach. I actually think this section of the trail is better than the northern portion. There are wonderful scenic views along the way, as well as two awesome tunnels! The terrain becomes more rugged, and challenging the further along the trail. Instead of a nice paved surface, some sections are dirt, and some sections, you're climbing over rocks. There are a couple spots along the way, where the trail is close enough to the water that Mandy & Lexi were able to cool off. Toward the end, the trail passes Land's End, a spot we visited in the winter. Once we reached the end of the trail at Rejects Beach, we headed back up Bellevue Avenue to complete our loop. Before leaving, we checked out "Forty Steps" near where we parked. I'm pretty sure the steps were closed two years ago. There are 40 steep steps that lead down to a platform overlooking the shore. We didn't go all the way down, but did stop for a photo about halfway down. This was a long walk, about six miles total. Like our first visit two years ago, the weather was fantastic. It was 71 degrees and sunny when we started, and in the 60's by the time we finished. You really couldn't ask for a better day to do this wonderful walk!

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Land's End

Dates visited: 2/9/2024

This is a scenic spot located on the southern tip of Newport at the end of Ledge Road. It is a popular fishing spot. The southern end of the Cliff Walk also passes through here. We walked here from Rovensky Park where we parked, about a mile away. There's some limited parking here on Ledge Road, but a resident sticker is required in the summer months (May 1st through October 1st). We arrived right as the sun was setting, so it was a good time to take some photos!

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Bellevue Avenue Historic District

Dates visited: 6/28/2024

This is the Bellevue Avenue Historic District, well known for the mansions along Bellevue Avenue and the surrounding area. This formed the second half of our loop when we walked the southern section of the Cliff Walk. It was difficult to get many pictures of the dogs in front of the mansions. Most are actually private residences, and the ones open to the public charge admission, and probably don't allow dogs on the grounds. We got a lot of nice pictures in front of gates! Besides the mansions, we passed by Rovensky Park, a nice park we visited previously in the winter. We cut through the Salve Ragina campus on the way back, and some of the photos included here are from the campus. Despite not getting a lot of photos of the dogs in front of the mansions, this was a fun walk on a beautiful day, and provided a shorter way back to Forty Steps from the end of the Cliff Walk.

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Fort Adams State Park

Date visited: 8/7/2022

We escaped the brutal Connecticut heat and humidity by spending a day in Newport, RI, where it was 78 degrees and very windy! We walked what is called the "Fort Adams Bay Walk", a trail that combines some park roads and paved walking trails that loop the park. It was very windy, I had to catch my hat that blew off my head before it blew into the water. It was a fun walk with great views of the bay. There is also a fort here, but I didn't take the paid tour since I had the dogs with me. There are a few spots where the dogs could get into the water to cool off as well. This was a really great visit.

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Brenton Point State Park

Dates visited: 8/7/2022 & 7/28/2023

This is another great state park in Newport. There's a lot of access to the rocky shoreline. People were flying kites on the grassy area, and there were people parasailing on the water. There are some nice monuments here too. I bypassed the "trail" listed in the All-Trails app and mostly just walked around the rocky coast.

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We returned the next summer. Again, it was a hot and humid day inland, but here it was in the mid 80's and very breezy by the shore. This time we walked here from King Beach, and took many pictures around the rocky shoreline. Since we didn't hike the trail last time, we went for it this time. It's an easy flat walk on a wide, mowed trail that ran mostly through a meadow. There is an observation tower about half way through. We climbed to the top of that as well. Most of the photos I took were of sections of the park that we didn't cover on our first visit. That being said, I did take some photos by the monuments again. One thing I noticed is how green the grass was this time around. Last year, Rhode Island was going through a masssive drought. This year, we're approaching records for the amount of rain received in July!

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Brenton Point

Date visited: 9/14/2024

This is the rocky area sandwiched between Ocean Avenue and the shore, on the opposite side of the road and just north of Brenton Point State Park. There are some short access paths that lead to the rocks. This area is accessed often by people going fishing, and also by teenagers just hanging out. Some of the areas are steep, with large drop-offs and quite dangerous. We tried to avoid those! There's also a large grassy area at the north end of the area as well. This area is very scenic, and offers some wonderful views. We hiked the rocky area where we could, and used the street and grassy areas where the terrain was too rugged. We wound up at a beach area, where we stopped to rest for a bit, before heading back via Ocean Avenue to the State Park where we parked.

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Downtown Newport

Dates visited: 9/15/2022 & 10/19/2024

We decided to visit the historic downtown tourist area of Newport on a gorgeous day in the middle of September. Since it was a Thursday and school was back in session, I thought it wouldn't be that crazy, but I thought wrong. It took me 20 minutes to find a place to park. All the lots were full. It also turned out that a boat show was going on here as well. Once we parked, we roughly followed the "Colonial Tree Trail" in the All-Trails app, which led us around some of the lesser known historic sites. I expanded the route to include the busy area around Thames Street, which is at the heart of the Newport Tourist District. The dogs got a lot of compliments with how well they pose for pictures!

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As we were headed back to our car via the First Mile Bikeway, we walked up Bridge Street, heading up to Thames Street. This small stretch of road inclues some very cool looking historic properties here, along with a couple shops and an art gallery.

Thames Street

Date visited: 6/25/2024

This is a walk along historic Thames Street, and the surrounding area, located in the heart of the Newport tourist district. There is some overlap here with our Downtown Newport adventure from September of 2022, but I tried to take different pictures this time around. I would say 90% of our walk was different from our previous trip. The street is lined with little shops, which are real tourist traps. In fact, one of the stores is actually named "The Tourist Trap"! Some of the shops allow dogs, and a few even put water and treats out along the sidewalk for the pups. There are also various marinas and pedestrian walkways by the shore. One of the walkways leads out to King Park, but there was some construction going on and the access to the park was blocked. Behind the sailing museum is a very nice spot that the dogs could use to cool off. We actually came back to that spot a few times over the course of our four and a half mile walk. Just be aware, even on a weekday, it can become a nightmare to find a parking spot. We arrived just after 10AM, and were able to find a nice spot right on the street, but by noon, everything had filled up.

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King Park

Date visited: 11/5/2022

This is a lesser known beach in Newport. It's basically a town park, with two small beachy areas attached to it. It's a good place to just relax. There's about a miles worth of a walking trail around the park. It seems dogs are allowed year round here, but parking is by permit only in-season, from May 15 to October 1st I think (but don't quote me on that). There were record high temperatures throughout the region on this day. It was 70 degrees in Newport, in November, so it was definitely a good day to go to a beach! The weather forecast also called for cloudy skies most of the day, but it was bright and sunny in Newport so it was a great day all around.

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Castle Hill Lighthouse

Date visited: 7/28/2023

This is a famous historical landmark in the town of Newport. The lighthouse is still operated by the US Coast Guard, but is located on property owned by the Castle Hill Inn, a very high end establishment in Newport. The site is used often for events and weddings. I'm not positive that the grounds are open to the general public. We found the place via the All-Trails app, and while there was signs for "Lighthouse Parking", there were also signs that said "Private Property, for inn guests only". As a group of 20 somethings all dressed up in suits and fancy dresses walked by us, I felt like we crashed a high-end party or something! Still, I figured the worst that could happen would be that we were asked to leave, and that didn't happen. We also passed a couple that were there to walk their dog on the trail as well. Speaking of the trail, it is beautiful and well maintained, with good access to the exterior of the lighthouse, as well as some very scenic vistas. I love the picture of Mandy and Lexi on the dock chairs. It look likes they're having a blast on vacation!

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Castle Hill Beach

Date visited: 9/14/2024

This is the beach area we reached while hiking the rocky area along Ocean Avenue, between Brenton Point State Park and the Castle Hill Inn. Since we arrived via the shore line, we did not see the sign indicated that the beach was private for Castle Hill Neighborhood Association members only. Of course, with the current state law, the public is entitled to access the shore line from the water to ten feet past the high tide line, so we weren't trespassing. There is another rocky area separating this beach from another beach north of this called "Collins Beach", which I think is used by people staying at the inn. We rested here for a bit, and waded into the water, before heading back to the State Park.

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Easton's Beach

Dates visited: 6/5/2022, 1/27/2023 & 9/6/2024

We spotted this beach initially when we walked the Cliff Walk. This beach is located at the start of the Cliff Walk, but we could only take pictures of the beach from the road that day because dogs aren't allowed during the summer months. We came back on a day, that was definitely not a summer day and checked out the beach. It's a popular beach in Newport, which the locals also call "First Beach". "Second Beach" and Third Beach are located nearby in neighboring Middletown. I actually think those beaches are nicer than this one. We also took a detour while we were here to walk over to Dunlap Wheeler Park and Atlantic Beach in Middletown, which is pretty much one lot over from Easton's Beach. When we arrived here on a brisk January day, there were actually people surfing, as well as some other dogs that were fetching balls in the water. It was a bit too cold for us to do any of those activities, but we enjoyed our walk anyway!

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We returned here to do a full walk on the beach when the weather was warmer than January! It was a week after Labor Day, and still real nice out, but there were very few people on the beach. There were a lot of surfers though, as an off-shore storm enhanced the size of the waves. There were some other dogs running around freely on the beach as well. Lexi rolled around in the muddy sand, but fortunately a big wave cleaned her off a little bit later!

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King's Beach

Dates visited: 1/27/2023, 7/28/2023 & 8/31/2024

Not to be confused with King's Park Beach, this is a completely different place. There's a rocky area along side Ocean Avenue, a spot for fishing and boat access, as well as a small natural sandy beach, with lots of sea weed. We visited here twice so far, once in the middle of winter, and the other time smack dab in the middle of summer. Both times we parked near the fishing area and climbed some rocks that have a beautiful view of the ocean. The views are so great you can't really tell the winter photos apart from the summer photos. On both visits, we also walked along side Ocean Avenue until we reached Brenton Point State Park. This is a wonderful lesser known beach that is a perfect place to bring the dogs to cool off in the hot summer months. While the waves crash hard in some sections, there are other areas that are calm for the dogs to take a dip. Some people were camped out along the side of the road and on the rocks in lawn chairs. There is plenty of road side parking, as well as a small lot at the fishing area. This is a great beach alternative for dog owners, over the more touristy beaches in the area, especially since most, if not all of them, don't allow dogs in the summer.

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We stopped here to get some extra steps, since our previous adventures on this day were on the shorter side. As I mentioned the first couple times we went here, this is a beautiful spot, and a great place to bring the dogs in the summer time to cool off.

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Rovensky Park

Date visited: 2/9/2024

This is a very small park with a stone dust walking trail that circles the park. Finding places to park in Newport is challenging, so we actually stopped here because street parking is available along side this park from October 2nd through May 30th (otherwise, you need a resident sticker). We walked the trail here, but then headed down Bellvue Avenue and Ledge Road to get to Land's End.

Ballard Park

Dates visited: 6/8/2024

This might be the quietest place in Newport. It seems everywhere else in this tourist town is wall to wall people this time of year, but we didn't pass a soul here. This is a woodsy nature preserve, and a good place to escape if you're looking for some quiet. There's s couple of loop trails here, a lower loop that is mowed at the base of a cliff, and an upper loop trail that traverses the top of the cliff. There are some really nice views from the upper trail. The trails are maintained, but they are not blazed in any way, and they are not currently in the All-Trails app at all, so we did a lot of exploring. There are a number of side trails as well, so it could be easy to get lost without a GPS. The hike is on the shorter side, about a mile and a half total. Parking is available at the high school off Wickham Road when school is not in session, and there is limited street parking on Hazard Road. After the hike here, we added some steps by walking down Hazard Road through the Salt Marsh.

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Gooseneck Cove Salt Marsh

Dates visited: 6/8/2024

After exploring Ballard Park, we continued our walk by heading down Hazard Road. The road passes through the Gooseneck Cove Salt Marsh. On either side of the road is a wildlife refuge owned by the Audubon Society with signs warning against trespassing. We followed the signs and stayed on the road. The road comes out at Ocean Avenue, and we actually headed east along that road a short ways, before turning around and heading back.

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Green Bridge

Dates visited: 6/8/2024

This is a small spot off Ocean Avenue, located somewhere between King's Beach and Hazard Beach. Street parking is allowed here on one side of the street. This is a scenic spot and a popular place to just stop and take a few photos, which is exactly what we did. Mandy and Lexi also found a spot to cool off here as well.

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Rejects Beach

Dates visited: 6/28/2024

This is the beach at the southern end of the Cliff Walk. It's actually the eastern end of the "elite" Bailey's Beach. This is the portion left for the commoners, who aren't elite enough to be allowed at the private Bailey's Beach, hence the name. They used to actually rope off this section from the rest of the beach, but can't do that anymore because of the law related to public access to the shoreline. There is no parking here, you have to arrive by foot or be dropped off. It's an effort to keep us outsiders off the beach. We arrived when we finished the Cliff Walk. Although dogs are allowed on the Cliff Walk, there are signs indicating that they are not allowed on this beach (we didn't stay here too long). After this, we continued our walk up Bellevue Avenue.

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Braga Park

Dates visited: 8/13/2024

We parked here to start our four mile adventure on this day. This is a town park with athletic fields and a playground, as well as a large grassy area. There were dogs running around off-leash on the far end of the park, but I'm not sure if there is a leash rule or not here. There are poop bag dispensers, but the bathroom was locked and there are no port-a-potties. On the other side of the parking lot is the trail-head for the Easton Pond walking trail, which is where we headed next.

Easton Pond

Dates visited: 8/13/2024

This is a one mile, stone dust walking trail along the east side of the pond. The pond serves as drinking water for the city of Newport, so there is no access to the pond itself. It's a nice walk, but beware, there is no shade whatsoever, so don't do this on a really hot day. Fortunately, it was a nice day when we were here, with temps only in the 70's. We started at the trail head at Braga Park, and walked to the other end at Old Beach Road. There's a short dirt path on the side of the road that leads to Memorial Boulevard across from Easton's Beach and the Cliff Walk. We headed east along the boulevard on our way to Atlantic Beach, and later returned the same way we came.

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First Mile Bikeway

Dates visited: 10/19/2024

The name is a misnomer. This bile path is longer than one mile. It actually starts in Middletown at the intersection of West Main Road and Coddington Highway. It runs right along side Coddington Highway into Newport, past a shopping plaza, eventually heading into Downtown Newport. The section between the new rotary and downtown is fairly new, built along side the construction of the new intersection. We started at the shopping center because I didn't realize that there is a brand new parking lot. The new lot serves the bike trail, a bus stop, and a brand new dog park that doesn't look like it gets much use. We didn't walk the section that leads to Middletown. Instead, we headed downtown. This portion of the trail veers away from the road, and passes in between a cemetery and the railroad tracks. It's actually a much easier way to visit Downtown Newport if you don't mind the half mile walk. Parking at the new lot is far simpler than trying to find a parking spot in Downtown Newport! This was a good way to start of our five mile walk in Newport on this day.

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Storer Park

Dates visited: 10/19/2024

This is a small park just before the bridge leading to Goat Island. There are nice views of the bridge and the Goat Island Lighthouse here.

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Goat Island

Dates visited: 10/19/2024

This is a small island, that early colonists used as a goat pasture. There are no goats now, as most of the island is occupied by the Newport Harbor Island Resort. There is a small marina area on the island as well. There is a one road leading to the island, with sidewalks on both side. There are signs for "Shoreline Public Access", so the public is allowed access to the property. We were able to walk around the resort and right up to the lighthouse.