Mountain bike
By
rocketee
in
January, 2011
November 11, 2010 this entire trail, from Providence -to- Connecticut state line, was one section of my bike ride beginning on the East Bay Bike Path in Warren, R.I. and ending in Moosup, Connecticut. The connection from East Bay Bike Path was actually very short and easy(I used Cranston Street). The beginning of this trail is behind a Lowes Home Improvement, it is paved all the way until Coventry. The paved section had some cool tunnels, bridges and a soap factory which had a very pleasant smell. The soap factory is located within a historic mill building next to the Pawtuxet River and is worthy of a photograph. I saw very few people using this trail the further west I rode, and finally the pavement ended and the 'real' adventure began. The trail basically remains straight and the forest comes closer in, the trail surface is compacted dirt, gravel, some sandy areas and alot of moguls. The forest is very dense and there is beautiful water features along the way. There are several bridges, some without decks where you either carefully go over them or take a easy detour by following the atv tracks. Where the trail goes under Route 102(Victory Highway) it is basically flooded year round with 1.5 feet deep water and several inches of mud under that. The two sides of trail here are very steep cliffs. I found a 3 ft wide cut-out on right side(heading westbound) which you can climb up, go over stone wall at top and head left towards Route 102, you will be on a atv track which heads accross street to the other side where it descends back to the trail at a dry area. About two miles further again there is a flooded section - just follow atv tracks which run parallel to trail until rejoining it beyond flooded area. I set up a tent and slept on the RI/CT state line about 200 ft off trail. I heard atv's riding around the area until late at night. At the RI/CT state line is a large sandy area where the atv's ride often and they also use the rail-trail. The riders that drove past me were young teenagers, they did slow down and wave. The trail in this section is very sandy however I did not have to get off the bike once. My trip continued into CT until the trail ends in Moosup, I thought the scenery was excellent in CT where the trail runs along the Moosup River, there is a large waterfall, rock cut-outs, bogs, swamps, hills. Upon my return heading back I was in the middle of the forest, far away from any civilization and came upon a herd of friendly goats!! It was a fun trip on the mountain bike, very peacful and quiet forests with beautifull water features. Please don't ever pave this section!!