Great things do come in small packages.
Spanning only 37 miles from east to west, Rhode Island is the smallest state in the U.S. by area. But there’s plenty of outdoor adventure within its compact borders. More than 400 miles of coastline, including offshore destinations like Block Island, offer ocean-side vistas and rocky ledges. Deep forests sit next to cities like Providence for close-to-home recreation.
Locals have long known that Rhode Island is a hiking destination. Now’s your chance to see for yourself. AMC’s brand new Best Day Hikes in Connecticut and Rhode Island includes curated trail guides and detailed route descriptions. It’s the first AMC hiking guide focused on the Ocean State. Here are five of our favorite trails, with abridged excerpts from the guidebook.
The domed gazebo at Ochre Point in Newport, Rhode Island, a distinctive feature on the Cliff Walk, is part of Angelsea, a Gothic Revival mansion built in 1880.
Newport Cliff Walk
7.3-mile out-and-back
Newport, RI
The only National Recreation Trail within a National Historic District, this hike offers continuously stunning views of Easton Bay and the Atlantic Ocean to the east, as well as Newport’s Gilded Age mansions to the west. The trail, with one short detour along city streets, ranges from a paved sidewalk at the north end to rocky stretches and a short beach stroll at the south end.
Because this is an out-and-back route, hikers can turn around at any point and retrace their steps. Young children, less-active seniors, and those with mobility issues will find it difficult to cover stretches of uneven rock at the north end of Cliff Walk, but most of the rest of the path is flat, smooth, and easy to navigate. …The entire walk is a public right of way that originates from a charter signed by King Charles II in 1663, granting colonists permission to fish along the shoreline. The 1843 constitution of Rhode Island reaffirms this permanent public access.
Much of the route is lined with thousands of daffodils that bloom in early spring, as well as countless wild and cultivated rosebushes.
Hikers often find their vision shifting back and forth between stunning ocean views to their left and magnificent mansions to their right. While summer is a popular time to visit, winter hikers are rewarded by sightings of loons, mergansers, scoters, and other migratory sea birds
Black Rock Road cuts through the edge of Rodman’s Hollow on Block Island, leading to a cliff overlooking the Atlantic Ocean.
Rodman’s Hollow
2.2 miles
Block Island, RI
Rodman’s Hollow is considered the birthplace of Block Island’s land-preservation movement. In the early 1970s, when a developer proposed building a residential subdivision in the hollow’s glacial outwash, residents formed the Block Island Conservancy and raised money to buy the 37-acre tract. Subsequent purchases increased the size of the preserve to 230 acres.
From the parking area, hike south on wide, unpaved Black Rock Road past the information kiosk. In 0.2 mile, a path on your left leads to the Rodman’s Hollow trail network, but bypass this turn and continue down Black Rock Road.
In another 0.5 mile, reach an unmarked trail on your right. You will return on this path toward the end of the hike, but for now continue straight ahead, passing through a maritime shrubland corridor containing bayberry, shadbush, and arrowwood. Rhode Island’s most extensive concentration of the state-endangered bushy rockrose, an evergreen flowering shrub, also thrives in the hollow’s dry, rocky soil.
In another 0.5 miles, panoramic views of the Atlantic Ocean emerge. Just offshore lies Black Rock, a submerged dark boulder that has long been the bane of many a mariner.
At the end of Black Rock Road, 0.9 mile from the start of the hike, turn right onto a wide, unnamed path that hugs the southern shoreline. Here, you enter a broad, hilly meadow that connects with the Audubon Society’s 120-acre Lewis-Dickens Farm Wildlife Refuge to the west. This expanse of open land provides habitat for meadow voles, which serve as prey not only for state-threatened northern harriers, but also for barn owls, peregrine falcons, merlins, and American kestrels. Song sparrows, yellow-rumped warblers, and ring-necked pheasants also call the hollow home.
Enormous, granite stepping-stones are piled along the Wood River at Stepstone Falls in Exeter, Rhode Island. The stones likely date back to the 1800s, but the identity of the carver, and why they were abandoned, remain a mystery.
Stepstone Falls
3-mile loop
Exeter, RI
Stepstone Falls (sometimes called Steppingstone Falls) is one of the most popular and appealing natural attractions in the 14,000-acre Arcadia Management Area, Rhode Island’s largest parcel of recreation land.
These stones likely date back to the 1800s, but no one knows who cut them, when, or why. However, it’s no secret where the material came from: exposed bedrock, moss-covered ledges, and glacial boulders abound throughout the river valley.
About 100 yards south of the falls, turn right to cross a wooden bridge spanning the river. It is one of more than a dozen bridges and boardwalks that the Narragansett Chapter of the Appalachian Mountain Club built across streams and springs that flow down 545-foot Escoheag Hill to the west.
Oak, maple, hickory, beech, and birch dominate the hardwood forest, offset by white pine along the river and some hemlock at higher elevations. The understory includes Christmas ferns, princess pine and other club mosses, partridgeberry, and, in spring, a diversity of wildflowers.
Find close-to-home hikes and support your favorite trails. There’s an AMC chapter near you!
A pond created by a dike in the 1950s to attract waterfowl at Great Swamp Management Area in West Kingston, Rhode Island, is an excellent spot for birdwatching.
Great Swamp Management Area
4.8-mile loop
West Kingston, RI
A loop on wide, packed-gravel trails passes extensive stands of Atlantic white cedar and American holly trees that surround New England’s largest swamp. From the left corner of the parking area, pass an informational kiosk and begin walking south on a wide, flat, packed-gravel trail that is more of a forest road than a hiking path, although motor vehicles are not permitted.
A vibrant, verdant understory of inkberry (a type of holly), sheep laurel, and club mosses spread out among still-dormant sweet pepperbush, fetterbush, and highbush blueberries. Above grow oak, maple, beech, birch, and hickory trees, as well as the evergreens American white cedar and American holly. The spike-tipped emerald leaves of American holly make this handsome native understory tree less vulnerable to hungry deer. When the holly’s bright red berries are ripe, birds, squirrels, and other forest animals feast on them. People fashion holly leaves and berries into wreaths and other winter holiday decorations.
Boulders have been arranged as chairs on a ledge near Mount Tom in Hopkinton, Rhode Island.
Mount Tom
8.5-mile loop
Hopkinton, RI
This loop trail passes lush groves of white and pitch pine, travels over rocky cliffs with panoramic views, ambles along fast-flowing streams, and finishes on packed-gravel roads that weave through 14,000 acres of protected forest.
From the parking area, follow a path marked by yellow and white blazes that heads south between two moss-covered stone walls. In about 200 yards, immediately after the path traverses two small streams, yellow-blazed Arcadia Trail continues straight ahead, but turn right at a sign pointing to the start of white-blazed Mount Tom Trail.
Mount Tom Trail is clearly marked. It descends gradually for a short distance before rising and leading to a bridge over a small stream in 0.7 mile. In another 0.3 mile, reach a more substantial bridge, built in 2015 by volunteers from the Appalachian Mountain Club’s Narragansett Chapter. This span crosses the Wood River, part of a watershed that was designated a federal Wild and Scenic River in 2019.
For more hiking inspiration in southern New England, check out AMC’s Best Day Hikes in Connecticut and Rhode Island.