Maxwell Mays Wildlife Refuge

Posted By on November 29, 2013

Maxwell Mays Wildlife Refuge

3.26 miles; coventry, ri

i visited the late artist and former owner maxwell mays once when i was a kid; he was a colleague of my dad’s. all i remember is that he had the biggest cats i ever saw. i didn’t remember how lovely this property was, or even know that much about it. it’s a nice walk. it consists of open woods, fields, pine forests, and a pond. it was a cold but good day on the trail, and i felt pretty good the whole way. and not much pain in my ankle afterwards, either.

the trail

the trail

the trails on this audubon society property are all very clearly marked and well maintained. it’s not completely flat, but the ups and downs aren’t bad, either.

smoking frog

smoking frog

there’s one stretch of the yellow-blazed hammet hill trail that has a lot of glacial erratics. someone with a sense of whimsy stuck a log in the crack on this one and added smaller boulders for eyes to make a smoking frog.

carr cemetery

carr cemetery

this is the nicely-kept carr cemetery. i presume they are the family that carr pond was named for. max mayes used to call it the “used carr lot.”

astonished fireplace

astonished fireplace

astonished fireplace is astonished.

i have added this hike to the hikefinder.

Comments

3 Responses to “Maxwell Mays Wildlife Refuge”

  1. Cynthia says:

    I enjoyed that hike, too. Unexpectedly rewarding.

  2. […] maxwell mays wildlife refuge, coventry, ri—an unexpectedly beautiful gem. lots to see, and the terrain is just challenging enough without being […]

  3. Doug McGavic says:

    Locals often refer to the Carr cemetery as the “Used Carr Lot”. My bad . . .

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