Black Hut WMA
Posted By auntie on April 29, 2015
5.85 miles; north smithfield, ri
i downloaded a gps track from a fellow hiker and followed his track through this somewhat neglected wildlife management area in the northern part of the state. it was interesting; there were 3 quarry sites, an old ymca camp, a cemetery, and a mysterious stone structure which might have been the black hut of the name.
come on in. set a spell.
this was the first thing i saw after i parked my car. there was kind of a lot of trash through here. i saw so many tire dumps i thought they should rename the property black wall management area, but it seemed the worst of the trash was concentrated at the beginning.
the trail
most of this hike was on old dirt tracks and gravel roads which have seen a ton of atv and dirt bike traffic. there were a lot of ruts and eroded spots.
tragic headstones
somewhere around the halfway mark, there’s a short detour that takes you to an old cemetery. it was sad to see these “infant” stones. there were more, too.
black hut sign
after a very short stretch of road walking, you come to another section of the management area. it seems someone tried to make a map and blazed paths through this part. the map is kind of impossible to read now, but the trail blazes are still very visible.
quarry site
as i said, there was apparently a lot of quarry activity through here. i kept coming upon massive piles of quarried stone like this.
the black hut of the name?
this is the “hut” i mentioned earlier. in reality, it looks like the foundation of a building. i have no idea if this is what the name of the wma refers to.
coal clinker
beyond the hut and the third quarry site, the trail is littered with coal clinkers. this kind of mystified me… i can understand coal clinkers on an old railroad bed, but the trail i was following didn’t seem to be smooth or straight enough to be a railroad bed. another mystery.
i have added black hut to the hikefinder. trailhead, auntie’s trail map.
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