Cancel

    Open app

    Search

    Douglas State Forest

    3.7 (20 reviews)
    Closed 9:00 am - 8:00 pm

    Douglas State Forest Photos

    You might also consider

    More like Douglas State Forest

    Recommended Reviews - Douglas State Forest

    Your trust is our priority, so businesses can't pay to alter or remove their reviews. Learn more about reviews.
    Yelp app icon
    Browse more easily on the app
    Review Feed Illustration

    Reviews With Photos

    First time visiting Wallum Lake Beach. My daughter and son in law already arrived 7-17-2022 at the park. My wife, son and myself arrived one hour later to join them. Sign at entrance "Park full, no drop offs or walk ins." Park ranger stated only way in or out of park. We were denied entry and told, I could contact my daughter who can change her plans and leave the park to accompany us somewhere else. My perspective here is unique as my daughter could see there were still parking spaces open in the park, as you would expect as some people will leave and not stay the whole day. Ranger stipulates "Park fills to capacity, decision is made to deny any more. After that no one can enter for the rest of the day. There is not enough staff to further evaluate whether enough room would develop later thereby allowing for more people to enter the park" This a policy is unfair to people wanting to use your publicly funded facilities. A private company would never create such a policy. Isn't there any oversite? The park ranger had an attitude where if it was up to him, he would deny entry to every one, every day, so as not to have to deal with people as he works through his workday.

    Wallum Lake MTB Race - https://classactracing.blogspot.com/
    Class Act Racing C.

    The forest is on a plateau with no major hills (Just punchy climbs) and a total elevation variation of around 300 feet. This provides for a wide variety of riding experiences from beginner to advanced expert, simply by picking the trails to suit. Grab a trail map as this will help you learn the trail network. Douglas State Forest offers a mixed bag of terrain. Fire roads, singletrack, doubletrack and some dirt roads and a few extremely rocky trails with a high technical requirement. With so many trails DSF is a real challenge for even the experienced rider.

    Tanusha S.

    Great place to hike. Also a great place to go with the family to sit by the lake. You could bring some food and sit at the picnic tables. I came here with my family where it was handicap accessible for people in wheelchairs, and a great place to hike and play catch with kids. The greenery is gorgeous and the lake is so calm. Would go back again next summer.

    A lovely place
    Brian S.

    Hiking biking and picnics Douglas State Forest is a huge place, over 5,500 acres of wonderful woods, rocks and water. There is a nice lake and beach for swimming, fishing and boating and lots of different trials that cut and intersect through the forest. The many trials offer everything to very simple to very difficult terrain and are used for hiking, mountain biking, equestrians and in the winter, snow shoeing and cross country skiing. The trails could be better marked but they all end up somewhere. Around the lake there are lots of grills and picnic tables and decent public bathrooms. This wonderful place has just about anything you could want in a wooded area and is a lovely and well used forest all year long.

    Beach shot!
    Marlena V.

    Hullo, fellow Yelpers! After a year long haitus.. I'm back. And what better way to start off a backlog of reviews than sand, summer & fun? In Jan of this year we moved to Woonsocket. Ever curious, toward the beginning of summer I was just itching to find somewhere close, convenient and clean to get mai tan on and hit the water. Granted Lincoln Woods is quite literally 8 minutes away, however for the reasons later to be discussed, I'd rather, er, not. What a wonderful surprise to discover Douglas! I have yet to explore any of the trails thus my review is based mainly on Wallum Lake. The beach is relatively small but kept up very well. For a small admission price of $5, there's no trash, no grungy water and just beautiful surroundings. I love the abundance of bbq pits under the cool shade of the pine trees. The beach crowd here also tends to be pretty family orientated. I've stopped by here exclusively on weekdays however: I have heard horror stories in the past on how packed it can be on the weekends. And thankfully.. people appear to generally wear swimsuits here (as opposed to full office attire in the water.. so unsanitary ahem.. more on that later). However. Paul P. does kinda sorta make a valid point regarding the forest visits by Mary Jane: twice this summer I saw beach go-ers head off into the woods with bongs. Definitely not flower picking there. The bathrooms are of the flush variety and are also very tidy. I really do recommend a visit if you're in the area and looking for a quiet spot to relax.

    Mid State Trail, approximately nine miles up
    Chase F.

    Perfect! There's really nothing else to say about this park. I primarily use it for trail running, but it's a wonderful and scenic place to kill time. The trails are top notch and fairly easy to navigate. Well worth the time, and far better than anything else in the Greater Providence area!

    See all

    9 months ago

    Helpful 0
    Thanks 0
    Love this 0
    Oh no 0

    2 years ago

    Insane out of state fee so I won't be back. We literally turned around and went home.

    Helpful 0
    Thanks 0
    Love this 0
    Oh no 0

    11 years ago

    Helpful 13
    Thanks 0
    Love this 14
    Oh no 0

    4 years ago

    Helpful 0
    Thanks 0
    Love this 0
    Oh no 0

    4 years ago

    This place have stuped rules is the worse lake i never see before i really i don't recommend

    Helpful 0
    Thanks 0
    Love this 0
    Oh no 0

    7 years ago

    Helpful 0
    Thanks 0
    Love this 0
    Oh no 0

    7 years ago

    Helpful 0
    Thanks 0
    Love this 0
    Oh no 0
    Photo of Brian S.
    255
    1992
    28197

    11 years ago

    Helpful 25
    Thanks 0
    Love this 26
    Oh no 0

    3 years ago

    Parking is too expensive going to lose a lot of money in the park rangers are very disrespectful

    Helpful 0
    Thanks 0
    Love this 0
    Oh no 0

    14 years ago

    Helpful 1
    Thanks 0
    Love this 1
    Oh no 0
    Photo of Jack S.
    24
    37
    3

    6 years ago

    Helpful 1
    Thanks 0
    Love this 0
    Oh no 0

    9 years ago

    Helpful 1
    Thanks 0
    Love this 0
    Oh no 0
    Photo of C M.
    165
    249
    93

    11 years ago

    Helpful 0
    Thanks 0
    Love this 0
    Oh no 0

    11 years ago

    Helpful 1
    Thanks 0
    Love this 0
    Oh no 0

    13 years ago

    Helpful 1
    Thanks 0
    Love this 1
    Oh no 0

    8 years ago

    Helpful 0
    Thanks 0
    Love this 0
    Oh no 0
    Photo of Tim L.
    29
    30
    0

    10 years ago

    Helpful 0
    Thanks 0
    Love this 1
    Oh no 0

    8 years ago

    Helpful 0
    Thanks 0
    Love this 0
    Oh no 0

    15 years ago

    You feel like you have an entire forest to yourself sometimes. I love this place for a great hike in solitude with beautiful views.

    Helpful 0
    Thanks 0
    Love this 2
    Oh no 0

    12 years ago

    Helpful 0
    Thanks 0
    Love this 0
    Oh no 0

    Ask the Community - Douglas State Forest

    Review Highlights - Douglas State Forest

    There is a nice lake and beach for swimming, fishing and boating and lots of different trials that cut and intersect through the forest.

    Mentioned in 2 reviews

    Read more highlights

    You might also consider

    Verify this business for free

    People searched for Hiking 509 times last month within 15 miles of this business.

    Verify this business

    Buffumville Lake and Hodges Village Dam

    Buffumville Lake and Hodges Village Dam

    4.2(10 reviews)
    7.8 mi

    This is my favorite hike. The reasons being its close by and its a fairly easy quick hike when…read moreyou're short on time. The hike at Buffumville has a north side and a south side. This review is of the north side. It is approximately 3.25 miles and takes just over an hour without stopping. The parking is located at the boat ramp across the street if the park is closed for the season or you want to hike for free. If the park is open you will have to walk the trail clockwise because they won't let you walk in the park without paying. If the park is closed you can walk either counter clockwise or clockwise around the lake. This north side hike doesn't have a lot of hills to climb up or down. It is a typical marked trail that you must pay attention to rocks and roots and such. It's a beautiful trail with views of the lake most of the time, a bunch of foot bridges, brooks, stone walls etc. Most of it is well shaded except for a small section at the gas lines. If it's spring I'd definitely recommend waterproof hiking sneakers and if it's winter ice cleats help a lot.

    I love taking my kayak here! The water is clean, calm and cool. There's a great island to paddle…read moreout to and circle. You can even rent it to camp on. The only reason it looses two stars is the parking. They have maybe 7 spaces for people with boats, and the rest is for hikers. I bring a van with no trailer because my kayak fits inside. I parked by the boat landing and when I came back I had a parking ticket for parking in the boat area. I was boating. I'm not carrying my kayak to the hikers lot for no reason. I'm not comfortable enough leaving my kayak alone at the Boatlanding to drive to the hikers lot by the entrance because the hiker lot is always full too anyways. So there's no where to park. The nature part is great! The part that the government handles like parking lot size and ticketing are the "meh" parts. I continue to paddle here because it's safe and hikers can see and hear you if you run into a problem on the water.

    Photos
    Buffumville Lake and Hodges Village Dam - Buffamville lake

    Buffamville lake

    Buffumville Lake and Hodges Village Dam
    Buffumville Lake and Hodges Village Dam

    See all

    Douglas State Forest - hiking - Updated May 2026

    Loading...
    Loading...
    Loading...