Date visited: 6/11/2022

This is another very nice spot in Rhode Island. We hiked a mile and a half loop trail that features all sorts of different rock formations.

Date visited: 8/29/2022

This is a really nice, wide, flat trail. It is very similar to a rail trail. The trail goes under the George Washington Highway bridge (definitely not to be confused with the George Washington Bridge in New York). The bridge pylons are painted with inspirational messages. Past the bridge, the trail runs along side Stillwater Pond. As the name says, the trail is quite scenic with a number of places to look out at the pond. It's a great spot to take the dogs for a walk, as there are a number of places the dogs can cool off in the pond. Across the street from the parking lot is another trail that goes out to Stillwater Reservoir, a different body of water that connects to the pond. The reservoir has a recreation area that is a popular spot for fishermen, but it's not accessible from this part of the trail since there is no bridge over the connection to the pond.

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Date visited: 8/23/2023

This is the area directly across the street from Mowry Conservation Area. The beginning of the trail is kind of neat, but the rest of it was kind of awful. There's an area near the trail head with an observation platform, and some medieval looking chairs carved from wooden logs. There's also a very narrow log bridge to cross a river. On the other side of the bridge is an area with some large rocks that offers nice views of Stillwater Reservoir. The rest of the trail that runs along side the north side of the reservior isn't that good. There are no views of the reservoir. There is too much growth between the trail and the shore. It reaches a partial clearing that looks like an area kids use to party. It's full of trash. The whole thing out and back is about a mile and a half, but really the first half mile or so is the only section worth doing.

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Date visited: 10/22/2023

Getting here was a bit of an adventure. We drove up a very rough gravel road under the power line cut-out to the parking area. There is a confusing maze of trails here, that were difficult to follow even with the GPS enabled map. We had a short hike to Mercer Overlook, a scenic spot with a view of the Providence skyline. There is also an old chimney, ruins of a cabin that a man in the parking lot told me burned down in the 1930's. We only hiked about a mile here total, since we had already walked over 6 miles this day at our previous stop.

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Date visited: 6/4/2024

The pond here is also known as Woonasquatucket Reservoir or Stillwater Reservoir. The sign in the parking lot says "Stump Pond". Regardless of what it is called, we made a brief stop here to take pictures of the sunset. It's primarily used as a fishing area, but there is also a boat ramp here for launching small boats like canoes and kayaks.

Date visited: 2/7/2025

This is the site of an old YMCA camp. The property was once owned by Brown University, who sold it to the Greater Providence YMCA in the 1960's for one dollar. The YMCA built the camp in 1970, and it operated it until 2008. The property laid vacant and was not open to the public at that point. In October of 2020, the YMCA sold the property to the town of Smithfield. The town did some work blazing the trails and building some bridges, and the new recreation area opened to the public sometime toward the end of 2023. The main trail is roughly a two mile loop around Upper Sprague Reservoir. The trail is beautiful this time of year, with a light coat of snow on the ground. Many of the old camp structures are still standing. One feature of the trail is the waterfall, but the water level was so low that we actually missed the waterfall altogether and had to turn around and backtrack to see it. It was barely a drip for this visit, but must be pretty nice when water levels are higher. The hike is pretty easy, and even though the snow was melting, the trail wasn't too muddy. This was a fun winter hike, but it's probably pretty nice any time of year.

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Date visited: 5/17/2025

Our new thing is walking through college campuses. We visited Brown University earlier in the month, so now it's Bryant's turn! The campus was almost deserted. The tents were still set up from the commencement ceremonies, that wrapped up earlier in the day. There were only a handful of students left moving out. It was eerily quiet! We reached the campus via the walking trails through the woods, and then walked through most of the beautiful property. The highlight is the common area near the pond. This was a fun walk on a warm and sunny afternoon.

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Date visited: 5/17/2025

These are a series of walking trails through the woods on Bryant University property. The trails are open to the public. We picked up the trail from the dog park parking lot (The dog park was donated to the town by the University). We used the trails to connect to the university itself. I wasn't that impressed by the trails. They were overgrown in places, with some obstacles that need to be cleared.

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Date visited: 9/15/2025

This well kept town park is the main recreational area in the town of Smithfield. There are plenty of athletic fields, a frisbee golf course, monuments, and a series of walking trails. Dogs aren't allowed on the playground, or on the main athletic field, but leashed dogs are allowed everywhere else. The senior center is also located here, with additional monuments and a gazebo. We walked around most of the park, and some of the trails through the woods. Our hike was about 3.75 miles total.

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