Posted By auntie on April 15, 2015

4 miles; lincoln, ri

i took a quick trip to this spot after i saw it on a friend’s “to-do” list. they really have done wonders with the blackstone river shoreline. i remember being involved in a clean-up along here on the very first earth day (yeah, i’m that old), and it was pretty skeevy back then. this was a nice walk, and a good bit of it was along the old blackstone canal towpath. there were tons of people out both walking and biking.

witchhazel in bloom

the cultivated witchhazels were in bloom. these aren’t the native kind, which bloom in very late winter. these are much showier and bloom later in the springtime.

dam

one of the many dams across the blackstone river. this river was known as “the hardest-working river in america,” because of all the mills along its length.

under the bridge on route 116 in lincoln

these big bridge structures are just fascinating from below. they are massive concrete abstracts. beautiful.

towpath

here’s a stretch along the towpath of the old blackstone canal (more on the canal here). this canal ran from providence, ri,  to worcester, mass., but not long after it was finished, the railroads came through and made it obsolete. luckily, there are some really wonderful stretches still intact, and you can even see the lock systems in some places. there’s a great stretch in uxbridge, mass., that i used to walk a lot when i lived in nearby mendon. it’s on my to-do list to walk again and blog about.

red maples in bloom

these are red maple flowers, and they are FINALLY in bloom. it seems very, very late to me. it’s been a long cold lonely winter (thanks, george).

bike bridge

this is the bridge across the river just below the dam on the bikepath. as you can see, the river marks the boundary between lincoln and cumberland, ri. and no, i do not know what the elephant means…

i have not added this to the hikefinder. you can find info on the blackstone river bikeway here. i entered the bikeway from the trailhead behind the northbound rest area on route 295.

Categories: Rhode Island, Walks and Hikes
Tags: 2–5 miles, Lincoln RI, RI