Dates visited: 6/5/2022 & 6/28/2024

This was another great trip to Rhode Island. We walked the Northern half of the Cliff Walk trail. The trail hugs the Eastern Newport coast. The entire trail runs 3 1/2 miles, but since we have to walk out and back, that would be 7 miles to walk the whole thing. That is a little bit much for the dogs, well Mandy anyway. The section we did walk was mostly paved, except for the short segment on the rocks. We also checked out Easton's Beach which is on the North end of the trail. The weather was perfect for this walk. It was 66 degrees, sunny and breezy. A small section of the trail between Narragansett Avenue and Webster Street was closed, and there was a short detour set up. The trail runs right by Salve Regina University, which made a nice backdrop for some of the pictures. We turned around once we hit Belmont Beach, a small, rocky, beachy area after the boulder section. The dogs were able to check out the water here. We eventually returned, and finished the southern section of this wonderful trail.

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It took us over two years, but we finally made it back to complete the southern portion of this trail. The challenge is parking. There is no public parking anywhere near the southern end of the Cliff Walk, at least none available during the summer months. For this trip, we actually parked at "Forty Steps", which is where we parked the first time. Instead of following the Cliff Walk from that point, we headed out Narragansett Avenue to Bellevue Avenue, and took Marine Avenue which leads to Belmont Beach, where we left off the first time. From there, we headed south along the trail until it's end at Rejects Beach. I actually think this section of the trail is better than the northern portion. There are wonderful scenic views along the way, as well as two awesome tunnels! The terrain becomes more rugged, and challenging the further along the trail. Instead of a nice paved surface, some sections are dirt, and some sections, you're climbing over rocks. There are a couple spots along the way, where the trail is close enough to the water that Mandy & Lexi were able to cool off. Toward the end, the trail passes Land's End, a spot we visited in the winter. Once we reached the end of the trail at Rejects Beach, we headed back up Bellevue Avenue to complete our loop. Before leaving, we checked out "Forty Steps" near where we parked. I'm pretty sure the steps were closed two years ago. There are 40 steep steps that lead down to a platform overlooking the shore. We didn't go all the way down, but did stop for a photo about halfway down. This was a long walk, about six miles total. Like our first visit two years ago, the weather was fantastic. It was 71 degrees and sunny when we started, and in the 60's by the time we finished. You really couldn't ask for a better day to do this wonderful walk!

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Dates visited: 2/9/2024

This is a scenic spot located on the southern tip of Newport at the end of Ledge Road. It is a popular fishing spot. The southern end of the Cliff Walk also passes through here. We walked here from Rovensky Park where we parked, about a mile away. There's some limited parking here on Ledge Road, but a resident sticker is required in the summer months (May 1st through October 1st). We arrived right as the sun was setting, so it was a good time to take some photos!

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Dates visited: 6/28/2024

This is the Bellevue Avenue Historic District, well known for the mansions along Bellevue Avenue and the surrounding area. This formed the second half of our loop when we walked the southern section of the Cliff Walk. It was difficult to get many pictures of the dogs in front of the mansions. Most are actually private residences, and the ones open to the public charge admission, and probably don't allow dogs on the grounds. We got a lot of nice pictures in front of gates! Besides the mansions, we passed by Rovensky Park, a nice park we visited previously in the winter. We cut through the Salve Ragina campus on the way back, and some of the photos included here are from the campus. Despite not getting a lot of photos of the dogs in front of the mansions, this was a fun walk on a beautiful day, and provided a shorter way back to Forty Steps from the end of the Cliff Walk.

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Date visited: 8/7/2022

We escaped the brutal Connecticut heat and humidity by spending a day in Newport, RI, where it was 78 degrees and very windy! We walked what is called the "Fort Adams Bay Walk", a trail that combines some park roads and paved walking trails that loop the park. It was very windy, I had to catch my hat that blew off my head before it blew into the water. It was a fun walk with great views of the bay. There is also a fort here, but I didn't take the paid tour since I had the dogs with me. There are a few spots where the dogs could get into the water to cool off as well. This was a really great visit.

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Dates visited: 8/7/2022 & 7/28/2023

This is another great state park in Newport. There's a lot of access to the rocky shoreline. People were flying kites on the grassy area, and there were people parasailing on the water. There are some nice monuments here too. I bypassed the "trail" listed in the All-Trails app and mostly just walked around the rocky coast.

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We returned the next summer. Again, it was a hot and humid day inland, but here it was in the mid 80's and very breezy by the shore. This time we walked here from King Beach, and took many pictures around the rocky shoreline. Since we didn't hike the trail last time, we went for it this time. It's an easy flat walk on a wide, mowed trail that ran mostly through a meadow. There is an observation tower about half way through. We climbed to the top of that as well. Most of the photos I took were of sections of the park that we didn't cover on our first visit. That being said, I did take some photos by the monuments again. One thing I noticed is how green the grass was this time around. Last year, Rhode Island was going through a masssive drought. This year, we're approaching records for the amount of rain received in July!

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Date visited: 9/14/2024

This is the rocky area sandwiched between Ocean Avenue and the shore, on the opposite side of the road and just north of Brenton Point State Park. There are some short access paths that lead to the rocks. This area is accessed often by people going fishing, and also by teenagers just hanging out. Some of the areas are steep, with large drop-offs and quite dangerous. We tried to avoid those! There's also a large grassy area at the north end of the area as well. This area is very scenic, and offers some wonderful views. We hiked the rocky area where we could, and used the street and grassy areas where the terrain was too rugged. We wound up at a beach area, where we stopped to rest for a bit, before heading back via Ocean Avenue to the State Park where we parked.

Date visited: 9/15/2022

We decided to visit the historic downtown tourist area of Newport on a gorgeous day in the middle of September. Since it was a Thursday and school was back in session, I thought it wouldn't be that crazy, but I thought wrong. It took me 20 minutes to find a place to park. All the lots were full. It also turned out that a boat show was going on here as well. Once we parked, we roughly followed the "Colonial Tree Trail" in the All-Trails app, which led us around some of the lesser known historic sites. I expanded the route to include the busy area around Thames Street, which is at the heart of the Newport Tourist District. The dogs got a lot of compliments with how well they pose for pictures!

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Date visited: 6/25/2024

This is a walk along historic Thames Street, and the surrounding area, located in the heart of the Newport tourist district. There is some overlap here with our Downtown Newport adventure from September of 2022, but I tried to take different pictures this time around. I would say 90% of our walk was different from our previous trip. The street is lined with little shops, which are real tourist traps. In fact, one of the stores is actually named "The Tourist Trap"! Some of the shops allow dogs, and a few even put water and treats out along the sidewalk for the pups. There are also various marinas and pedestrian walkways by the shore. One of the walkways leads out to King Park, but there was some construction going on and the access to the park was blocked. Behind the sailing museum is a very nice spot that the dogs could use to cool off. We actually came back to that spot a few times over the course of our four and a half mile walk. Just be aware, even on a weekday, it can become a nightmare to find a parking spot. We arrived just after 10AM, and were able to find a nice spot right on the street, but by noon, everything had filled up.

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Date visited: 11/5/2022

This is a lesser known beach in Newport. It's basically a town park, with two small beachy areas attached to it. It's a good place to just relax. There's about a miles worth of a walking trail around the park. It seems dogs are allowed year round here, but parking is by permit only in-season, from May 15 to October 1st I think (but don't quote me on that). There were record high temperatures throughout the region on this day. It was 70 degrees in Newport, in November, so it was definitely a good day to go to a beach! The weather forecast also called for cloudy skies most of the day, but it was bright and sunny in Newport so it was a great day all around.

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