WASHINGTON SECONDARY BIKE PATH:
CRANSTON BIKE PATH LETTERBOX:
CRANSTON, RHODE ISLAND
-BIKE IT OR HIKE IT-
Planted: Cranston Bike Path Letterbox; July 13, 2003
Length: Coventry Greenway; 4 miles
Cranston Bike Path; 5 ¾ miles
West Warwick Greenway; 4 ½ miles
Tongue Pond Loop Trail; ½ mile
Pontiac/Natick parking lot to Letterbox; 4 ¾ miles
Gibbs
Difficulty: Easy. Flat, paved trail.
Directions:
To start from the Station Street parking lot in Coventry; From the junction of Routes 117 & 116, head west on Route 117. About a ¼ mile past the junction of Route 33, on your right, will be Station Street. The parking lot is just up Station Street on your left.
To start from the Horgan School parking lot in West Warwick; Take exit 10 off of I-95 to Route 117 west. Take a right onto Route 33 and head north. Route 115 joins Route 33. The old Royal Mills will be on your right and the Horgan School will be to your left. Behind the school is a parking lot next to the bike path, along Hay Street.
To start from the Pontiac/Natick parking
lot near the Cranston County line;
From I-295 northbound, take exit 2 to
Route 2 (Bald Hill Road). Take the exit for West Natick Road west. As you pass
beneath I-295, there will be a parking lot on your right. From I-295
southbound, take exit 2 to Route 2 (Bald Hill Road). Take a right onto East Ave
which becomes River Street after you cross the river. Take a right on Route 33
(Providence Street) and then another right on Pontiac Ave. As you pass beneath I-295,
there will be a parking lot on your left.
To start from the Gibbs School parking lot in Cranston; From Route 10 southbound, take the exit for Garfield Avenue. Across the street will be the entrance to the Gibbs School parking lot. Go in the entrance and turn right. The bike trail starts in the northwest corner of the lot. From Route 10 northbound, take the exit for Niantic Ave. Turn left (north) up Niantic Ave to Cranston Street. Turn left on Cranston Street, then left again down Garfield Ave. A little ways down on your right will be the entrance to the Gibbs School parking lot. Go in the entrance and turn right. The bike trail starts in the northwest corner of the lot.
The Washington Secondary Bike Path is
made up of three interconnecting bike paths. The Coventry
Greenway, West Warwick Greenway and Cranston Bike Path were
built on part of the abandoned Hartford, Providence & Fishkill Railroad Line, which was completed in 1854
and connected the two state's capitols. At present, 2 ½ miles of the Coventry
Greenway are paved from Station Street
towards
Starting from the
Station Street
parking lot, along the
Coventry Greenway; A
sign board, picnic tables and some old sections of railroad track from the old
rail bed are located here.
Note; Traveling west from the parking lot along the paved trail for 1/10 of a mile brings you to an old section of track with two switches. Continue along the trail for another 1 ¾ miles, where you'll spot the Flat River Reservoir to your left. The paved part of the trail ends after 2 ½ miles.
Traveling
east from the parking lot the
trail is not currently paved for 1 ½ miles and consists of packed dirt with
some trap rock. It is scheduled to be paved in 2009
and finished in 2010. About a ¼ mile takes you over Route 117 on an old trestle
bridge. Just over a ½ mile you pass by an old railroad siding with the tracks
still in place. You cross the Pawtucket River on another old railroad
trestle after .09 miles and come to a road crossing at 1 mile.
Note;
Take a quick detour left, down this road to the bridge. You'll see the spillway
that dammed up this section of the river so that the old mill across the street
(now called Concordia), could divert some water for power.
After crossing the street, you'll see some
left over railroad track and an old platform. You come to another, longer old
trestle bridge with viewing sections built in. Another spillway is downstream
that you can access via a dirt trail. You pass across the entrance to the Clariant
Corp. after 1 ½ miles and meet up with the paved section of the West
Warwick Greenway soon after that in the Artic section of Warwick. Another ½ mile will take you past an old Whistle Stop marker to your
right (left over from the railroad days) and 2 ½ miles brings you through a
tunnel. You ride alongside the
Pawtucket
River
and then pass by the old Artic Mill, built in 1919. After
crossing a busy road (cross light provided) you cross over a refurbished black
iron railroad trestle.
Note;
The trail passes by a short spur trail on the left that brings you to another
parking lot and ball fields.
You then reach the Horgan
School
parking lot after 3 ½ miles. The trail runs alongside the big red caboose
from "New Haven". You have a nice view of the old Caybrook Company's Royal Mill
with its two twin towers from here.
Starting
from the
Horgan
School
parking lot, along the
West Warwick
Greenway;
After only 0.2 miles, you come to a long steel railroad bridge overlooking the Pawtucket
River South Branch and another mill complex. After crossing over the
bridge, take a big whiff. Yes, that's soap you smell. The Bradford Soap Works
is located to your left. After about a mile from the parking lot, you will cross
over Route 33. All road crossings have crosswalks and the busy road crossings
have crosswalk signs. A little over 2 miles takes you past a new playground
on your right. Another ¼ mile brings you to a trestle bridge crossing over the Pawtucket
River again. We spotted geese and even a white swan in the river. The 2.6
mile mark brings you to the Pontiac/Natick parking lot underneath I-295.
This is the Cranston Bike Path section. After 3.3 miles, you cross
over Meshanticut Brook. From here, the path has more of an uphill grade
along a more urban setting. Another 0.6 miles takes you over Wilbur Avenue
on an old red painted railroad bridge. A small parking lot is located to your
left in
Oaklawn
Village
Center, where you can spot a nice gazebo and benches. You can access this parking area
off of Oaklawn Avenue (Route 5) by crossing under the red bridge on
Note;
Just past Lowe's is a spur for the Tongue Pond Loop Trail, a ½
mile paved loop trail around Tongue Pond.
The trail ends after 8 ¼ miles next to the Gibbs School parking lot. Hopefully they will continue to extend the trail further north in the future.
HH
CRANSTON LETTERBOX LAST VERIFIED ON
SEPTEMBER 26, 2009
TO EMAIL A VERIFICATION
BEFORE YOU SET OUT BE SURE TO READ THE
WAIVER OF RESPONSIBILITY AND DISCLAIMER
BIKE IT OR HIKE IT LETTERBOXING