Posted By auntie on September 27, 2018

3 miles; Portsmouth, RI

[Ed. Note: I have been EXTREMELY remiss in posting for the past few months. A lot of personal drama. But I have made a vow to post at least once a day until I’m caught up. So watch the dates on these, as there is quite a backlog.]

I paid a visit to an old friend who recently retired (she’s now officially one of the “Ladies Who Lunch!”), and we decided to do a little exploring before heading to said lunch. This is a pretty little park with a very cool water crossing, although we had to basically bushwack through an obviously seldom-used section of trail. Still, it provided a great opportunity to catch up and reminisce.

Waterfall

Right at the trailhead you see a gorgeous little waterfall which I think is at an old mill site—there were lots of rock walls everywhere. There are also a few picnic benches scattered around a neat little lawn. It’s a great spot for a picnic.

Melville Pond

There was a swan posing rather majestically on the pond, but (s)he never got close enough for a close-up.

Cool Water Crossing

This is the water crossing I mentioned. It consists of a series of concrete discs with nicely-built staircases leading down to and up from them. I think I saw something about it having been an Eagle Scout project. Thank heavens for Eagle Scouts in need of projects!

Porcelain Berry, Ampelopsis glandulosa var. brevipedunculata

We saw the pretty berries of the Porcelain Berry vine climbing a fence that screened the preserve from some private property. Let’s go back to the Brooklyn Botanic Garden website to find out why this is such a bad idea:

A single vine can grow over 25 feet long, tolerating shade or direct sun, poor or rich soils, dry or moist conditions. It handily outcompetes other plants and can even choke out a fully mature tree! Despite its inclusion on many invasive plant lists—its cultivation is outright banned in Massachusetts, for example—porcelain berry is still planted ornamentally.

Yeah, not such a great plan.

Orange Grass, Hypericum gentianoides

Also saw this little hypericum growing in the railroad tracks that border the preserve. It is also known as pineweed, and the dark orange bits you see on it are the fruits. I’ve read that it is an “upland” species, but we were just about at sea level here.

Water Tower

We followed a trail that skirted the edges of several little ponds and this giant water tower was across one of them. This is former Navy land, and is dotted with mysterious old structures.

Swan Thugs

We thought about visiting this other pond and park which was across the road, but it was guarded by a large, thuggish-looking family of swans. We thought at first they were Canada geese, but on closer inspection, we realized they were all either light gray or white. And swans can be very aggressive and nasty, so we decided to just keep on walking up the road…

Track (click for details)

You can find out more about Melville Park and get a trail map (fyi, the green trail is REALLY overgrown) on this Town of Portsmouth website. As always, click the image above for details about this hike and to download the gps track.

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