Newport, Rhode Island

Newport (and Beyond) Ramble
Newport Harbor - Brenton Point - Middletown - Newport Harbor
(The Best Bike Rides in New England, Paul Thomas)

This ramble draws a figure-eight loop around Newport and Middletown.   The first half follows Ocean Drive along the magnificent shoreline jutting out from Newport.  The second half passes from Newport's splendor and bustle into the quieter countryside and charm of the island's southwestern end.  The two loops, measuring 8.5 and 17.2 miles, respectively, may be ridden separately or together.

Because Newport is a summer resort, it often has heavy traffic from June through August.  You might consider doing this ride in the spring or fall.  In the off-season (or early morning during the tourist season) you will be able to find a parking spot at King Park, which lines Newport Harbor's southern edge along Wellington Avenue.  From there ride away from town.  To complete the first, 10-mile loop, follow the general rule of staying on the principal roads closest to the shore, until you arrive at Bellevue Avenue, which leads back into town.

Turn to the right in the first two miles for a side trip to Fort Adams State Park.  This granite-walled fort was originally constructed to guard the entrance to Narragansett Bay.  Sited on a point of land jutting northward into the water, the fort offers good views of Newport Harbor.  Continuing south toward Brenton Point, the ride passes Hammersmith Farm, where Jacqueline and John F. Kennedy spent numerous summer vacations.  Its single-style mansion and bayside gardens were designed by Frederick Law Olmsted.  Canada geese flock on this old farm's broad pastures every fall.

From the U.S. Coast Guard station at Castle Hill, the ride turns south toward the open sea.  Follow Ocean Drive along the rocky shoreline for the next four miles.  Take the time to explore the many grassy areas, boulders, and tidal pools to the right.  If you have packed something to eat, stop along this stretch for a roadside picnic.  If the wind is blowing from the south, you are likely to feel some of the salt spray sent flying by waves crashing against the rocks.

Bellevue Avenue is the chain along which Newport's jewels are strung.   Many of the town's most famous mansions (once called "cottages") - Belcourt Castle, Marble Head, Beechwood, Chateau-sur-Mer, and the Elms - line either side.   Glancing through the gates as you ride by will help you decide which to tour.

The longer of the two loops along this route explores the quieter countryside northwest of Newport.  Tidy shingled homes, small farms, and large fields line the backroads between Newport and Middletown.  The road through sandy Easton and Sachuest points offers views back to Newport, where the most famous of the town's mansions, the Breakers, is visible above the cliff.  Back lanes follow the Sakonnet River's western shore, opposite terrain covered by the Sakonnet Point Ramble, before turning back to Newport on busier Route 138.

The Basics

Start:  King Park, on the southern side of Newport Harbor.  (You might want to pick up a map of Newport beforehand.)  From I-195 out of Providence, follow Route 138 into Newport; from the Boston area, follow Route 128 to Route 24 to Route 79 to Route 138.  To reach the park, drive (or ride) down the harborfront (Thames Street), then turn right on Wellington Avenue.  King Park will be on the right.  

Length:  25.7 miles for the full two-part loop; 8.5 or 17.2 miles for the other half.

Terrain:  Flat coastal roads, with a few gentle rises.  Heavy traffic in summer.

Food:  There are no commercial areas along this oceanside route.   Pack a snack to enjoy along the shore.

Traffic / Safety:  The return section on the longer ride has a 2.5-mile stretch on Route 138, a busy, four-lane road.  Riders not comfortable on a highway might prefer to turn around and retrace the route.

Miles and Directions

• 0.0 From King Park ride westward, away from town, along Wellington Avenue.

• 0.5 Left with Wellington Avenue as it becomes Halidon Avenue.

• 0.8 Right onto Harrison Avenue

• 1.2 Bear right with Harrison Avenue.

• 1.7 Pass entrance on right to Fort Adams State Park.  The fort guards the mouth of Newport Harbor.  It is worth a quick side trip to view Newport from across the water.

• 2.1 Bear right onto Ridge Road as Harrison Avenue bears left.

• 2.8 Right onto Ocean Avenue, at T, after passing Castle Hill Coast Guard Station.  Ride past Brenton Point State Park.

• 4.8 Stay straight on Ocean Avenue where Brenton Road forks left.

• 6.5 Right at the T, then turn left almost immediately onto Bellevue Avenue.

• 8.0 Right onto Narragansett Avenue to begin the second loop of this figure-eight route.

To complete the 8.5-mile option, turn left onto Narragansett Avenue and then right onto Marchant Street in 3 blocks.  Marchant Street will end at Bellevue Avenue across from King Park.

• 8.3 Left on Annandale Road

• 8.9 Right on Memorial Boulevard, Route 138A.  Caution:  There can be a lot of traffic here in the summer.

• 9.9 Stay right at fork on Purgatory Road, toward East Point, after passing Newport Beach on the right.  (Route 138 goes left.)

• 10.3 Right on Tuckerman.

• 11.6 Bear right toward the Norman Bird Sanctuary.

• 11.9 Bear left at fork toward the bird sanctuary.  You may want to detour to the right for a visit to Sachuest Point, a peninsula of sandy beach marking the mouth of the Sakonnet River.

• 13.2 Cross Third Beach Road, continuing straight on Indian Road.

• 15.1 Left onto Old Mill Lane, where a sign indicates that the road you are on is coming to a dead end.

• 15.8 Right at the T onto Wapping Road.

• 16.8 Stay straight on Wapping Road at fork.

• 17.8 Left at T onto Sandy Point Road.  Sign points left toward Route 138.  Pass a horse farm on the right.

• 18.3 Left onto Route 138 at the stop light.  Caution:  Route 138 has a lot of traffic and only a scant shoulder.  If you're not comfortable riding on a highway, simply turn around and double back.

• 20.9 Left onto Route 138A, Aquidneck Avenue, following the sign for Newport Beach.

• 23.0 Stay with Route 138A as it turns left, at a stop light, and then right, immediately thereafter, toward Newport Beach.

• 24.7 Returning to Newport, turn left off Route 138A, Memorial Boulevard, onto Bellevue Avenue.

• 25.2 Right on Narragansett Avenue.

• 25.6 Turn right on Marchant Street.

• 25.7 Arrive back at Wellington Avenue and King Park.

  [This ride was taken from The Best Bike Rides in New England (Third Edition), written by Paul Thomas - edited by Paul Angiolillo - published by The Globe Pequot Press, P.O. Box 833, Old Saybrook, Connecticut 06475.  For a catalog and price list of this (there are 35 other rides throughout the New England States) and other quality outdoor recreation guidebooks, please contact The Globe Pequot Press at the above-listed address.] 

In and Around Newport Harbor Cruise of the Lower Narrangasett Bay on the Spirit of Newport Departs from Bowen's Ferry Landing (Tel: 401-849-3575) Spirit of Newport,  built by Blount Marine in 1987, a multi-decked 200-passenger cruise ship - main deck is completely enclosed with full service bar offering food and drinks.  Cruise by Newport's waterfront, Goat Island, past the Newport Bridge, Rose Island, Jamestown, the unusual Clingstone, picturesque Hammersmith Farm, Fort Adams, John Nicholas Brown's Estate and Ida Lewis Yacht Club.

Some of the "summer cottages" of the wealthy Marble House The Astors' Beechwood   Hammersmith Farm - Childhood summer home of Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis and site of the wedding reception for Jackie and John F. Kennedy. (It's back there in the morning fog)  As of 2001, it was not open to the public for a tour any longer.     Neat shops from which to shop     One of the restaurants along the wharf area had this set up for thirsty pooches.  I thought this a very good idea.     I spotted this tricycle in front of a bike shop in Newport.

Additional photos in and around the Newport area.

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Welcome to Block Island
One of the last great places

Touring Block Island (The Block Island Beacon)

Interstate Navigation sails to Block Island from the Port of Galilee.  The port was originally developed as a government project during the 1930's to serve the fishermen of the area and create a departure point for travelers to Block Island. After the hurricane of 1938 Galilee, or Point Judith, became a major fishing port and is now the second largest fishing port in New England.  Block Island is 12 miles south; the boat ride takes a little over an hour.

Port of Galilee, Point Judith, RI, as seen from the ferry to Block Island

The first point of land that passengers arriving by boat see is the North Point.   Pictured in the Beacon logo, the North Lighthouse, was constructed in 1867, its two predecessors having washed into the sea.  As the boat travels south along the east side of the Island, you will see 100-foot high clay cliffs.  These cliffs, known as Clay Head, can be accessed from the land side while touring Corn Neck (see bicycle tour #3).  The cliffs are laced with eleven miles of walking trails and a blaze of daffodils in the spring and serve as temporary home to a multitude of birds each year on their way up and down the Atlantic flyway.  As the boat continues south, you can see Fred Benson Town Beach.  It is more fully described in tour #3.   The boat docks at Old Harbor, a man-made harbor at the Island's mid-section that is partially enclosed by stone jetties.  Construction began on this harbor in 1870 and took more than twenty years to complete by the Federal government.  With the arrival of a harbor, came the Victorian era hotels.  Block Island probably has the largest collection of remaining late nineteenth century wooden Victorian hotels of any destination on the east coast.  For the past 25 years the Island's Historic District Commission has protected these "Grande Dames."  During that time, most of the structures, many of which had been boarded up for years, were restored to their original Victorian grandeur.

Town of New Shoreham, Block Island is an Island township.  The Colony of Rhode Island and Providence Plantations chartered it in 1672, eleven years after the first band of European settlers seeking greater religious freedom than permitted in the Massachusetts Bay Colony were granted the right to settle the Island.  There is evidence of a stable Native American population dating back a thousand years.

The official name was given as the "Town of New Shoreham, otherwise Block Island."  It was named for Shoreham, near Brighton Beach on England's south coast.  Block comes from the Dutch explorer Adrian Block.  Although Block was not the first European to discover the Island, in 1614 while his burned ship was being rebuilt on the Dutch settled Island of Manhattan, Block and his men set out to explore Long Island Sound in a smaller boat.  They came upon this island and were the first Europeans known to set foot on the Manissean "isle of the little god."   Block marked it on his map as "Adrian's Block Island" and it has remained that ever since.

The Island is seven miles long and three miles at its widest point and has its own town government, an electric plant, water works, sewer system, Police Department, school (kindergarten through high school), an airport, medical center (no hospital) and a Volunteer Fire Department and Rescue Squad.

About 800 residents are counted each Groundhog Day, and more than 10,000 may be on the Island on a hot summer weekend, including summer residents, visitors for the day and passengers on more than a thousand boats on the Great Salt Pond, the second busiest pleasure boat harbor in New England.

Before starting your tour, you may wish to freshen up at the new Hospitality Center located at the rear of the ferry parking area, near the main street.  There are daily rental lockers available, and the Chamber of Commerce office is located in the same building.

Walking / Bike Tour #1
Old & New Harbor
(4.5 miles)

We suggest that you begin your tour by walking or biking to the left.  Ballard's Inn, an Island tradition for more than 100 years is straight ahead, and the inner basin, or fisherman's harbor, is on your left.  Walk through or around Ballard's to a very pleasant bathing beach.  Afterwards, go back up the hill to the statute in the middle of Fountain Square.

Rebecca at the Well is the statute, erected in 1896 by the Women's Christian Temperance Union, at the south end of town where Spring, High and Water Streets meet.  Flowers now fill the basins that originally provided water for people, dogs and horses.  Funds have been secured to have Rebecca recast and stabilized.  It is considered by most as the heart of the Island's downtown  All mileage measurements used in our tours start or end with Rebecca.

Old Harbor Village - Wend your way leisurely through town until you come to a stop sign in Bridgegate Square (.4 mile).  Most of the hotels were constructed in the 1890's after the harbor was constructed in the golden days of the Steamboat.

The Block Island Historical Society Museum is diagonally on your left;  you may wish to return to view the fascinating exhibits.  Go straight approximately one mile; jog right and then left in front of the Volunteer Fire Department and Police Station.  Down the hill is New Harbor, also known as The Great Salt Pond.  Until 1895 this pond had no connection to the ocean.  The island has no natural harbor.  Like the Old Harbor, it took federal funding to make this harbor.  Islanders tried for more than two hundred years to make a permanent beachway on their own with no success.  At the foot of the hill is Payne's Dock, a great place to watch the boats.  Go back to the corner (Dead Eye Dick's will be on your left) and turn right onto West Side Road.   Check out the Block Island Boat Basin.

Continue on to Legion Park where Island men and women of the Second World War, Korea and Vietnam are remembered.  On the hill behind the park lies the Island Cemetery.  Maintained by the town, markers date back to the 17th century.   Please enter with respect and without wheels of any kind.  Across from the entrance is Ball O'Brien Park with the recently completed Lions Club Children's Park, a great place for the little ones.

A few hundred yards beyond, and on the right, is Champlin's Marina, where the big boats come in, including an occasional "tall ship."   Oceanwest Theater is also located here and shows first run movies that change frequently.  You are three miles from Rebecca.

Return to the road, turn left and proceed just past the cemetery.  Turn right onto Center Road; seven-tenths of a mile down the road is where the original village "Old Town" was located.  Refuge from the wind was a high priority for early settlers.   Up the steep hill past the "Old Town" is the Block Island State Airport.   In season, the second busiest in the state after T.F. Green Airport, it hums with activity, and is home to the only year-round diner on the Island.  Return to Old harbor by going back to "Old Town;" taking a right onto Old Town Road, go one mile, pass the Town Hall and go right onto Chapel Street, site of Saint Andrew's Catholic Church.  On Chapel Street and Weldon's Way, you will find lots of shops and restaurants directly behind Water (Main) Street.

Bike Tour #2
Spring Street, Southeast Light,
Mohegan Bluffs, the West Side
(9.2 miles)

From the statute of Rebecca at the Well, go up Spring Street, past the Hotel Manisses, the first of the Victorian hotels to be restored in the 1970's.  At the crest of the hill is the recently restored Spring House, the Island's first resort hotel, which began receiving guests in 1859 and was famous for its pure spring water.  Moving south on Spring Street affords wonderful water views.  During winter and spring months don't miss the seals at play behind Saint Andrew's Parish Center.  As you climb the hill to the south and look back, the Newport Bridge can be seen to the northeast on a clear day.

Be prepared for the tower of the Southeast Lighthouse to suddenly loom above the road; it can be an awesome sight.  Built in 1875 and often shrouded in fog, this brick Victorian masterpiece was saved from falling over the massive Mohegan Bluffs in the summer of 1993 through the grass roots efforts of Island preservationists (the lighthouse is 1.5 miles south of Rebecca, much of it up hill).  The Southeast Lighthouse Foundation maintains the grounds and building, and provides information on the history and future of the Southeast Light.  Fundraising efforts are underway to continue restoration of the landmark building.  The property is open from sunrise to sunset.  Call 466-5009 for information.

The Mohegan Bluffs - Two hundred feet above the ocean in some spots, the bluffs stretch along the south end of the Island; public access is best by way of the Southeast Lighthouse property and again at the Payne Overlook, just west of the lighthouse.  The perfect spot for magnificent views of the Atlantic Ocean and viewing the interesting clay cliffs.  On clear days, from atop the bluffs, Montauk Point, the tip of Long Island, New York, is visible.  The stairway that leads down to a mostly rocky beach was built to protect the bluffs from erosion caused by visitors climbing the cliffs.  Proceed west along the top of the bluffs; the road makes a sharp right at "the painted rock" and becomes Lakeside Drive.

About one mile on the left is Fresh Pond (3.5 miles from Rebecca), the largest of the 365 fresh water ponds on the Island.  In winter it is home to the Island's ice boating fleet of a half dozen Island-made ice boats, one of which dates to 1912.  On the right just before a triangle in the road known as Isaac's Corner, is the Native American Burial Ground where small fieldstones, set closely together, mark the graves. Please treat with respect.

Next, take a left onto Coonymus Road.  "Smilin' Through," a gambrel-roofed cottage that overlooks Fresh Pond at Isaac's Corner, is thought to be the oldest home on Block Island.  The original cottage was built in the late 1600's by Dorcas and Trustum Dodge and restored in 1961.  Arthur Penn, the composer and poet, lived in the house with his wife Nell in the 1920's.  Penn composed music for Broadway musicals and is locally famous for "Smilin' Through," the "Block Island Anthem," sung at Block Island school graduations.  Please admire this private residence from afar.

The conservation effort on the Island, which since 1972, has seen nearly 35 percent of the Island's land set aside as open space, has its roots in a place called Rodman's Hollow.  (You are 4.5 miles from Rebecca, about half-way around the island).   In that year a massive subdivision was proposed that would have filled the ravine with a sea of summer cottages.  The leader of the Island Conservation movement, Captain John "Rob" Lewis, along with fellow islanders, founded the Block Island Conservancy to preserve Rodman's Hollow.  Their efforts were successful.  A unique glacial outwash basin, this ravine features trails through a maritime, scrubland ecosystem of bayberry, shadbush and arrowwood that shelters varied species of birds and wild flowers.  The basin is 90 feet below sea level at one point.  Soon, adjoining properties will be obtained resulting in much of this part of the Island being saved from development for future generations to enjoy.

The road swings to the east and becomes West Side Road; at the split you may want to fork left and stay on Cooneymus Road, which becomes a dirt road--no mopeds permitted.  The nautical building on the left at the end of the road is the last of the original lifesaving stations left basically in tact.  It is presently a private home, so please view from a distance.  The lifesaving long boats were stored on the first floor.  In foul weather, men would sleep on the second floor and respond to emergencies at sea dressed in oilskins, powering the vessel with oars.  Over the centuries hundreds of ships crashed onto the Island.  While many lives were lost, the brave men of the lifesaving service rescued many.  At one time, there were five government lifesaving stations around the Island.  Return to the main road and go left.

As you head back toward town, you will come across a country church.  The West Side Baptist Church (You have traveled 6 miles from Rebecca), home to a small, but spirited congregation.  It is said to be the only church in North America where the sun can be seen to rise and set over the Atlantic Ocean.  A view of the countryside and Montauk is afforded from the church lawn.  West Side Road rolls past mini-farms and countryside and will bring you back to Champlin's Marina at the New Harbor.   For a diversion, turn left onto Champlin's Road - a dirt road, no mopeds please.   It is 1.5 miles to the end, site of the Block Island Coast Guard Station from 1935 to 1999.  Along with eleven acres of land, the Federal government, through the efforts of the late Senator John Chaffee, who often visited the Island, donated the station to the town.  The Senator presented the deed to town officials on his last visit to the Island in 1999.  The beach from the Great Salt Pond to the ocean is, at this point, a favorite spot for wading and fishing.   Once a thriving Coast Guard facility, a small Search and Rescue team located at the facility in the summer months is all that is left of a Federal presence on the Island.  Return to the main road and turn left.

When you reach the New Harbor, you will have traveled eight miles; with a little more than a mile remaining to return to town and Rebecca.

Bicycle Tour #3
Corn Neck Road

Start from the ferry landing near Rebecca, go north (right out of ferry lot) to the stop sign at Bridgegate Square and proceed north (right) on Corn Neck road.  Crescent Beach, a three-mile stretch of sandy beach runs north from town to the beginning of Clay Head, the sand cliffs you most likely saw from the ferry.  Less than a half-mile from town the Fred Benson Town Beach Pavilion has a host of facilities including changing booths, bathrooms, showers, a snack bar and a beach with lifeguards.  You can rent a beach chair or umbrella and even get a massage right by the water's edge.  All beaches on Block Island are open to the public, so you can plunk yourself down anywhere.  Normally, there is little undertow and mild surf.  To be safe, swim in the areas with lifeguards, particularly if you are with children.

As you proceed up Corn Neck Road, you will see Adrian's cows on the right.  Adrian Mitchell, a tenth generation Islander, has made sure that his family farm of more than two hundred and fifty years will be forever open space.  About a mile past Mitchell Farm you will find Mansion road, which abuts the far end of Crescent Beach to the right.   A dirt road (no mopeds allowed) leads to the sight of a fabulous mansion that burned to the ground in 1963,  The town purchased the oceanfront property and it is open to the public.  There are no lifeguards at this beach.

Clayhead Nature Trail, on the right is a series of winding paths and trails that run along the ocean's edge on the northeast coast of the Island.  Also known as Bluestone, this maze covers a privately owned 120-acre preserve.  Within the preserve live several types of nesting birds and "is one of the best places to observe migratory songbirds in North America in the fall," according to The Nature Conservancy.  Please note that mopeds are not allowed on these trials, and bikes should be locked in the parking area.

Settlers Rock, at the end of the paved road on Corn Cove marks the site where the original contingent from the Massachusetts Bay Colony first came ashore.   Many names inscribed on the rock remain Island names.  Visitors can park their cars or bikes here and walk a mile along a sandy beach to the North Light.  Across from Settlers Rock is Sachem Pond, originally a fresh water pond that is now brackish, as a result of the many storms that have forded ocean water over the small stripof land that separates the sea from the pond.  Sachem Pond borders a national Wildlife Refuge that extends along the barren west beach.

The North Light, the fourth lighthouse built at Sandy Point, was constructed of granite blocks in 1867.  Located at the northern-most point of the Island, it has been restored by the North Light Commission, a committee appointed by the Town Council.  Inside are a museum and interpretive center; both are open from July 4 through Labor Day.  There is an ongoing fundraising campaign to continue the restoration.  For handicapped access, please call 466-3200 forty-eight hours in advance.  DO NOT SWIM AT THE NORTH POINT.  The shifting currents have been fatal. Return to town via Corn Neck Road.

Photos around Block Island (unfortunately, a cloudy day):

Old Harbor Take Out - located near ferry and a very popular spot.	Gateway to Goodies!!	Shopping along the main street in Old Harbor.
Southeast Lighthouse (Moved back from edge of cliffs in 1993)	Hotel Manisses, the first of the Victorian hotels to be restored in the 1970's	The recently restored Spring House, the Island's first resort hotel, which began receiving guests in 1859 and was famous for its pure spring water

Additional photos around the "Block."

Block Island's Web Sites:
www.blockisland.com  -  Block Island Homepage
www.ultranet.com/blockisland  -   Block IslandVacations

Directions to the Point Judith Ferry Dock (year-round service) www.blockislandferry.com

Take I-95 North to Exit 92, bear right on Route 2 to Route 78 (Westerly bypass).  At Route 1, turn left and travel to Route 108 (signs to Galilee and Point Judith).   Travel south three miles on Route 108 to the Blcok Island Boat sign and turn right, then left, - or - take I-95 South to Route 4 to Route 1; take exit for Narragansett and Route 108.  Travel south three miles on Route 108 to the Block Island Boat sign and turn right, then left.

Summer ferry service is also available from New London, Connecticut; Providence and Newport, Rhode Island; Montauk, new York.

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