Riverwood Preserve
Posted By auntie on October 12, 2016
4.75 miles; Westerly, RI
After yesterday’s sublime experience I couldn’t wait to get out into the woods again, but I felt I needed a bit more mileage. I hadn’t been back to this property in a while, so I thought I’d visit, and taking a page from my “double-figure-8” hike on Hoxie, I planned a route which would included the red-blazed trail, a trail I’d never hiked before. I managed a respectable 4-3/4 miles.
Riverwood Trails on Google Earth (click to embiggenate)
The basic configuration of this Westerly Land Trust preserve is a big granite knob rising between the Pawcatuck River and the Amtrak railroad line, with two trails, a red-blazed and a blue-blazed trail, that wind up and over the knob, and an orange-blazed trail that circumnavigates it. There are also several yellow-blazed crossover or shortcut trails. If you read my previous posts about Riverwood, you’ll see it’s a little tricksy to get onto. (And by the way, did you know you can overlay trail maps onto Google Earth? My inner geek was ecstatic to find this out!)
Shoe Tree
This was in a tree on the blue-blazed trail. Can’t imagine hiking this in flip-flops, much less in just 1 flip-flop. It’s not the White Mountains, mind you, but there’s a bit of climbing, particularly on the blue-blazed trail.
Pawcatuck River
And here is a shot of the Pawcatuck River, after which the preserve is named. Another glorious day in New England.
Chestnut Tree
The front part of this property is a Boy Scout camp, and some of the trees on the red trail are labelled. This chestnut tree didn’t look too healthy. I’m guessing it’s about to succumb to Chestnut Blight.
Boletes
No Idea on ID
It was also a fine day for mycology. There has been a little (though not enough) rain in the area lately, and the ‘shrooms are popping up everywhere.
Stone Structure
I’ve always found this stone structure intriguing. It has two doors, and it’s very small. Milking shed? No idea.
Autumn Vignette
I leave you with Christmas Fern shadows on a rock next to a single red Virginia Creeper leaf. You can find out more about the Riverwood Preserve on the Westerly Land Trust website.
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