Tippecansett South
Posted By auntie on April 15, 2016
5.5 miles; Exeter and Hopkinton, RI and Voluntown, CT
I’ve done this hike in a couple sections, but today I was able to do it in one go thanks to a car spot with a good hiking pal. I really like the Tippecansett Trail. It’s a little over 10 miles total, yellow-blazed, maintained by the Narragansett Chapter of the Appalachian Mountain Club, and it meanders back and forth along the state line between Connecticut and Rhode Island. Unfortunately, to the best of my knowledge, the Northern end of the Tippecansett is still closed off by a gun club.
This section takes in a long stretch of the Eastern shore of Beach Pond, which straddles the state line, before heading West to hug the border itself. There is a tiny section of road walking along busy Route 138 in Exeter, but it’s a very small stretch. And it ends at the state line marker by Yawgoog Scout Camp. The last mile or so is on Boy Scout property, and it gets kind of rugged and bouldery.
We parked one car at the Scout camp and then drove to Beach Pond, where we started our hike. We weren’t ambitious enough to climb up Hemlock Ledges this trip, especially since both of us had been to the top multiple times, but it is, technically, one of the major highlights of this hike.
One of the highlights of my personal hiking year is finding a patch of Trailing Arbutus, or Epigaea repens, in bloom. This wildflower is the state flower of both Nova Scotia and Massachusetts. Digging up one in Massachusetts is punishable with a $50 fine.
Here is the spot where the trail emerges from the woods and follows Route 138 for a short stretch. All-in-all, the blazing was excellent. It was an easy-to-follow trail.
Someone used these impressive old factory thingies as lawn ornaments. Very cool.
You can find info on the Tippecansett Trail in my hikefinder, and here is the complete trail map, showing the closed-off section.
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