Date visited: 7/6/2022

Okay, so I was fascinated by the big blue water tower on this property. The trail passes right next to the tower. It is just such an odd and unusual thing to see on a trail like this. I seem to notice a bunch of these water towers in my travels through Rhode Island. I'm sure they exist in every state, but for some reason I seem to notice them more here. It was a challenge to get the dogs in a picture with the big blue water tower. It reminded me of a giant Smurf in the sky! Okay, enough about the giant Smurf.. I mean water tower. The trail here is short, it's a half mile, perfectly flat, stone dust loop trail. There are educational signs along the way that feature tidbits about the history of the town of Richmond. On the back side of the loop, is the trail head for another longer trail. Since this visit was the 2nd stop of the evening, and I didn't leave the house until after work, and it was an hour and a half drive to this part of Rhode Island, we did not have time to walk the longer trail. Perhaps we will return someday, to walk the other trail under the watchful eye of the giant Smurf!

Date visited: 8/16/2022

This trail around the pond is part of Arcadia Management Area. Most of the trail is in Exeter, but a small section of the loop dips into Richmond. The pictures below are from the Richmond section. See the Exeter page for the rest of the pictures.

Date visited: 7/7/2023

The trail head for this preserve is on the corner of Punchbowl Trail and Small Pox Trail. Yes, these are actual street names. Not sure I'd want to live on "Small Pox Trail". Anyway, the preserve is nothing special. There's a red blazed loop and an extended blue blazed loop. We hiked the red one, which runs about three quarters of a mile. Sections of the trail were overgrown, but it's mostly harmless fern plants. Some were over the dogs heads, but they plowed through. "Punchbowl Trail" actually turns into an actual trail that runs along the outskirts of the preserve before proceeding into an un-named state management area. We hiked about a half mile of this too, before turning around. Other than the odd names, there's nothing here too remarkable.

Date visited: 1/24/2025

Up until this point, we've avoided the Rhode Island Management Areas this time of year. The reason is that during hunting season, hikers are required to wear a certain amount of orange by law. I finally caved and bought an orange vest for myself, and for Mandy and Lexi as well. That allowed us to enjoy this very nice 2.5 mile trail through a beautiful forest. The loop trail we hiked is known as the North Loop Trail. The first half runs along a wide, dirt road. The other half of the loop is a narrow trail. The forest consisted of mostly pine trees, which still look great even in the winter. It made for a nice, scenic winter hike.

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Date visited: 7/15/2025

There's a small parking area on the opposite side of the Old Stone Dam and Mechanic Street Fishing Access. In the summertime, teenagers hang out here to swim in the river and jump off the rocks. Mandy and Lexi couldn't figure out how to get in the river on this side, but were able to do so on the Hopkinton side.

Date visited: 8/7/2025

After initially driving past this spot, we turned around and made an unplanned stop here to check it out. This is primarily a state fishing area. Upon our arrival there was a person swimming in the pond. The water was clean, and Mandy and Lexi wasted no time going into the pond themselves. The "North South Trail" can be accessed from here, so we hiked about a mile on that before turning around and heading back. The section we walked starts in the woods near the pond, but joins a wide dirt road that runs along side a large cornfield. There are a few side trails, and one of them leads to an additional parking area. The trail then passes through Carolina Management Area. This was a nice spur of the moment stop, and the pond was beautiful on a beautiful and sunny afternoon. It was a nice change of pace after multiple days of hazy and smoky air.

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Date visited: 8/7/2025

This is a 100 acre property, located mostly in Richmond, but the trail head and parking area is in South Kingstown. There are three main trails, the red blazed "Red Fox" trail, the blue blazed "Crawley Trail", and the yellow blazed "Brook Trail". All three gradually climb a 200 foot hill. We hiked up via the Red Fox trail, and back down using a combination of the other two. I tend to get bored with hikes in the woods these days, but this one has enough variety in landscapes to keep it interesting. Some sections run through thick pine forests, and other parts are in more open areas. It was a gorgeous afternoon, and just nice to be outside without wildfire smoke in the air.

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