Cumberland

Blackstone River Greenway

Dates visited: 7/15/2022, 5/2/2024, 5/28/2024 & 5/31/2024

We walked the portion of this multi-town bike path between Lincoln and Cumberland. This section does not connect with the portions in North Smithfield and Woonsocket that we visited a couple days prior to this. There was no real access to the river and this section of the path was not very interesting.

This is the section of the trail that runs from the Ashton Mill Apartments near Blackstone River State Park in Lincoln, to the point where we left off nearly two years earlier. This stretch is about a mile long, passes under I-295, and runs parallel to train tracks that are on the other side of a large chain link fence.

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We started this walk at the John Street parking lot in Lincoln. The trail quickly crosses into Cumberland over the Lonsdale Avenue bridge. Once in Cumberland, it crosses Lonsdale Avenue near Stop and Shop, running right along side the river until it reaches an elaborate bridge over the river leading back to Lincoln.

This is the southern most section of the largest continuous "off-road" section of the trail. We have now walked the entire completed section of the trail in Rhode Island. We again started at the John Street Lot in Lincoln, and again crossed over the river into Cumberland along John Street (Route 123). The trail crosses John Street and passes through Valley Marsh on a large wide wooden boardwalk. The section ends just past the boardwalk near Blackstone Valley Prep High School. There are also side trails that lead to the river. This portion is only about three quarters of a mile long. At the end of the trail, there are signs instructing bikers to follow the on-road marker that eventually lead to a short off-road section in Providence that connects to the East Bay Bike Path.

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Burlingame Preserve

Date visited: 7/31/2022

There are actually four different properties here: Atlantic White Cedar Swamp, Gold Star, James Bland and Burlingame Preserves. I named this one Burlingame because that one is the largest, and the majority of the three mile loop trail we walked is part of that preserve. There are actually four different loops that you can take, with three of them being shorter versions of the main loop. The trails are nicely maintained, well marked, and feature a great many stone walls. We parked at the small lot on Pound Road, and accessed the trails from there. The only issue is somewhere near the beginning of the trail, the dogs managed to get all these little green prickers stuck in their fur. I stopped for 10 minutes pulling them out. On the way back, I was careful to keep them on the trail, but somehow they did it again. I spent another 10 minutes in the car pulling them out, and then probably an hour more when I got home. Great wooded trail, except for the little green prickers.

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Cumberland Monastery

Date visited: 12/23/2023

This was our 124th trip to Rhode Island over the past two years, but only the fifth time we've visited the state in the winter over that time (and those other four trips involved at least one beach). This is the time of the year to visit the monastery if you want to see the memorial Christmas Trees. Families set up the trees that are dedicated to loved ones who have passed. There are usually over 200 trees each year. The site itself was the home of a Trappist Monastery, starting in 1902. The monks moved to Spencer, Massachusetts in 1950 after a fire. The town of Cumberland purchased the land that is now a recreation area. The library and the Senior Center are on this site, and also a maze of trails. We used the All-Trails app and hiked a loop trail around the perimeter of the property. Part of the trail is a flat, wide, and easy, stone dust trail. The other part is quite challenging, with hills, rocks, and some difficult stream crossings. One of which looks like it was built by beavers, and I had to carry the dogs over it! It was a fun hike, and the Christmas Trees made for a good photo opportinity two days before Christmas.