Posted By auntie on March 15, 2014

6.56 miles; westerly and hopkinton, ri

well this was quite an eventful hike. i walked over 6-1/2 miles, and got to see the new tomaquag brook bridge, which is, in a word, spectacular. and i saw almost all of the hopkinton grills. and i lost my car keys, which necessitated a 45-minute wait in the cold for the hubs to come with the extra keys, only to discover that it was not necessary, as some fine person found my keys and left them on the windshield, which i didn’t discover till i got in using the extra set and looked up. d’oh!

cairn

here is the cairn by the entrance to the polly coon bridge that crosses the pawcatuck river from westerly to hopkinton. i read someplace that the top of this cairn marks the high water point during the floods of 2010. pretty amazing.

marker

and here is a corresponding marker on the hopkinton side. the other side of this stone has the name of the bridge, the date it was built, and the names of the two cooperating land trusts that financed the building.

signs of spring!

and lo and behold, signs of spring! the skunk cabbage is up.

boardwalk to the bridge

and here is the tomaquag brook bridge… or rather, the amazingly long boardwalk that leads to the bridge.

tomaquag brook bridge

and here is the bridge itself. it is truly a work of art, and i am so impressed and grateful to the many volunteers who made it happen. the hopkinton side of the grills is really very lovely, and there are, at a guess, at least 4 miles of trails through here. and this bridge and the polly coon bridge make it possible to walk the entirety of both sides of the river, which comes to, again, guessing here, but since i’ve done 5 miles on just the westerly side, an impressive 9+ mile trail system, with fantastic views, historic cemeteries, old roads and tow paths and locks and miles of stone wall. and picnic tables on the hopkinton side. picnic tables…! imagine. these two combined properties are such gems.

you can find the grills, both sides, in the hikefinder.

Categories: Rhode Island, Walks and Hikes
Tags: 5–7 miles, Hopkinton RI, RI, Westerly RI