Our favorite salt water launch site. Plenty of parking spaces and the dock is nice, clean, and…read moresecure. Plenty of cleats to tie on. Deep ocean is just a few minutes away with no - no wake zones. The drive to the launch has an interesting castle to look at. The owner has dozens of statues, gargoyles, and perfectly trimmed topiaries. Lots of people kayak from here. Some bring their dogs for a stroll. I've done some fishing and crabbing here. But honestly there are sooooo many mosquitoes and horse flies here and they're relentless! We mostly just use this place to launch our boat- away from the vicious bugs!!

A great place to…read morestart Barn Island in Stonington is one of the best places to launch a boat in Eastern Ct. It has a huge parking lot but since it is so popular it frequently fills up so people park on the side on the road. No one seems to mind but it does make for a long walk back to your vehicle. The ramp is steep but the water usually deep so it's easy for even a relatively large boat to get under way. Once you are in the water you have several great options. If you are in a kayak you can go north up the Wequetequock river, or south out to Stonington, Long Island Sound, Sandy Pt. or Napatree Point. This whole area was absolutely hammered by the 1938 hurricane and a beach in the area used to be called Kitchen Beach because appliances ripped from cottages were found buried in the sand for decades after the hurricane. Fortunately no hurricanes have hit in a while and the area around Barn Island is called Little Narragansett Bay and is usually quite calm. If you want more excitement in your yaking you can paddle out to Napatree Pt and old Fort Mansfield where rocks, old fishing piers and heavy wind and waves can conspire to give you a near death experience if you desire. Pretty good surfing out by Napatree also. For something less exciting you can go over to Watch Hill and get ice cream and some good seafood or just land on a isolated beach on Sandy Point Island. This was actually a part of Napatree but the hurricane literally tore the spit of land away and is now a rolling island. If you go east you can explore the very cool town of Stonington. Barn Island is a great place to launch no matter what your intentions are or abilities are. Just make sure you get there early during the summer weekends or you just might be in for a long walk to get back to your vehicle.

Very beautiful hike with a few challenging ledges and ascents but manageable if you take your time…read more(at least for an old fogie like me!). We followed the blue-blazed trail which took us to Green Pond and the Green Pond Falls. The falls were spectacular especially after the previous night's rain, cascading down a rugged ravine. In this early spring, the trail was lush with ferns, mosses, and lichens, looking like something out of a Lord of the Rings movie. The trails are fairly well marked and there are a number of unmarked paths that can be used to make shorter loops.

Super narrow roads-I was scared-lol. I guess if you camp you come here but wouldnt come here just…read moreto take a walk. Lots of dead chipmunks and rat holes-Felt like I was in a horror movie....

There are trolls here…read more Plenty of parking and other things here, too! Very much worth the trip, highly recommend.

A wonderful place to walk around, see giant trolls, an old airfield from WW2, coves/beach…read more Our daughter lives nearby and wildlife conservation biology is her 'thing', so walking around the trails at Ninigret was a fun & informative experience. Rhode Island has 5 giant trolls in various parks, and Ninigret has 2 of them: Greta Granite & Erik Rock. We stayed to the main paths as there are a lot of ticks around. And we saw a couple of fat turkeys who are probably feasting on the ticks. There are tennis courts, picnic area, a playground, observatory & senior center on the grounds. And plenty of parking.

Great historic site/battlefield. Climbing the monument/tower is exhausting and your workout for the…read moreday. The tunnel is interesting too, as I'm only 5'6 and had to hunch down to get through. I didn't check out the musuem, as the monument climb took a lot out of me, but otherwise the site was interesting and fun experience. Some nice views as well, while also remembering those that passed here

Such a great piece of history right here in CT! It's a quick visit - I looked at every part of this…read morefort and walked down the street to the water in about an hour visit. I really enjoyed my time here! I am not super knowledgeable about American history , so I really loved all the signage (see photos). There is no parking lot but plenty of street parking. There ate public bathrooms and a water fountain, but they were closed due to Covid.

So if you've ever seen the Wes Anderson movie "Moonrise Kingdom" - and you've hiked this trail to…read moreLong Pond - you'll recognize the scenery around the pond from the top of a massive glacial boulder. Regardless of its Hollywood connections (and my hats off to the camera crew and actors for getting up there!), this is quite the hiking area, though not for the faint-hearted. It does involve a bit of clambering up and down boulders, so be sure to bring a stout set of hiking boots or shoes ... and I'd recommend long pants to deal with the rocks and branches as you're more than likely to be finding yourself scooching down them on your butt at some points. (Yours truly wore only cross-trainers and boy did I regret it: I could not get any traction to summit that huge glacial formation and had to settle vicariously for the distant oohs and ahhs of wonderment from my wife and daughter). We started at the North Road trailhead for the main Narragansett Trail which is marked by yellow blazes but be aware (or beware?) that the turn-off to this spectacular view of the pond - while marked by a big red arrow on a rock - is an unmarked trail, so be sure to take mental pictures of the turns and forks so you don't get lost on the way back. But it sure is worth making this deviation! The main trial can be quite the hike and the opposite direction will take you into Connecticut if you so wish. There is supposed to be another unmarked trail opposite the one going to Long Pond which will take you to Ell Pond, but we weren't able to find the entrance to that trail from the main one - we're guessing probably because it's less traveled and maintained. In addition to Long pond, we were impressed by the large amount of rhododendrons in the forest - we promised ourselves to visit in the spring when they'd be blossoming as that must be a sight to see. This Narragansett Trail area is definitely worth repeat visits! Please note that there are no privys or running water at the trailhead - and parking areas are sparse.

The Long Pond-Ell Pond Nature Area is a spectacular location to stretch your legs and take in some…read morefantastic views of rural Rhode Island. As an avid hiker in the White Mountains of New Hampshire... it was wonderful to find beauty in one's own backyard. It was a crisp Saturday afternoon that I found myself driving down a dirt road in Hopkinton to the Long Pond trailhead. The drive down North Road (aka Old Rockville Road) itself was even enjoyable. The narrow dirt road meandered through branches, heavy with yellowed leaves until the obvious intersection of a couple of cars with several pull offs. There is room for 2 cars at this trailhead, with a pull off for another 2 just before the small parking area. The trail is well-marked with yellow blazes on the trees. Be mindful of who is participating in this hike... it isn't quite simply a leisurely walk in the woods. There are many rock scrambles, some elevation gain, and quite a bit of maneuvering to go to and fro. As you head down the trail from the parking area I mentioned, you reach a crossroads of sorts. If you turn left you hike a short ways until you reach a very large rock formation. At the top is wonderful outlook onto Long Pond. It is a great place to lunch. If you turn right you head toward views of Ell Pond (I didn't go this way on my trip). If you head "straight" which is actually kind of towards the right as well you descend into a forested valley and towards other adventures in the area. The hike to this crossroads is quite manageable and a quick trip. The beauty of this area is that you can make your hike as long or as short as you'd like. It is not a loop so you can decide to turn back at any point and be quite aware of how far and long it will take you. Great in any season I am sure... Fall was perfect. Wish I had gone when there was a bit more foliage to look at but stunning none-the-less. Quiet, serene, a joy to visit. I will most certainly visit this area again and traverse more of its trails. Be sure to wear your blaze orange during hunting season, September to February generally. I'm not sure how much hunting is allowed in this area but I'd rather be safe than sorry!

Ehh it was littered and underwhelming. Also far too busy for the size, there was poison ivy on the…read moretrail to get to the waterfall and at the base of the waterfall, and parking was not good. You have to parallel park on the edge of a non-level curve .... in a residential area. This wasn't for me and I don't recommend it and I believe the trails need some maintenance at the least. If you decide to follow the river down a little, you will be right underneath a busy highway. I also thought this was not nice and it contributed to my very low star rating. I would truly give 0 stars if I could.

There was no water!!!…read more End of August!! 91 degrees!! NO WATER!! Lol Hard to find! Literally looks like a side wall. Only two cars could fit!! Glad it's close to home!! I would definitely give it another try on a more rainy season!!

One of my favorite spots in Rhode Island! This is a great spot to go in the summer - ride the…read morecarousel, get ice cream, and walk out to the point. The water is clear and beautiful. I finally got to walk out to the point with my dog before the season starts! Dogs aren't allowed May 2-Labor Day 8-5pm! This is a beautiful walk. It's just under 1.5 miles to the point right from the entry!

Serene and beautiful sandspit to walk - you can trek up one side to the point, then back down the…read moreother side - with the Atlantic on one flank and the other with Little Narragansett Bay. It's also a nature preserve and the nesting grounds of piping plovers. We visited in the off-season and no problem parking (will be quite different in the height of summer. Good luck!). You can find many nice shell specimens, horseshoe crab carapaces, driftwood, and polished stones. Take a gander at the Watch Hill lighthouse in the distance as well as all the hoity-toity beachfront houses (including Tay Tay's for all you Swifties!).

Trails, a rose garden, water, a playground, and a dog pound(?). This a little gem of a place…read more Think lincoln woods for those from RI like me. This place is huge and one could easily spend hours here. Very quaint and peaceful.

Beautiful park, lots of trails to walk and the water fountains are a nice touch too! We were able…read moreto sit on a bench and watch the ducks and a few turtles too! Beautiful atmosphere and they even have a playground for the kids.