Often overlooked, rights-of-way offer easy access to Aquidneck’s captivating coastline.
On a chilly winter evening at Mount Hope Park in Portsmouth, the deep orange glow of sunset offered false warmth behind the elegant silhouette of the Mount Hope Bridge. A necklace of street lamps on the vaulted span wink on at dusk, competing for attention with the occasional beacon flash from the Hog Island and Bristol Ferry lighthouses.
It’s a million-dollar view that doesn’t cost Rhode Islanders a penny, thanks to their Constitutionally guaranteed right to access the shoreline — a privilege that dates back to the Royal Charter granted to the colony of Rhode Island by King Charles II in 1663. And Mount Hope Park is just one of the state’s more than 220 designated coastal rights-of-way, including more than 65 on Aquidneck Island.
Some of the access points in Newport, Middletown and Portsmouth are well-known: Easton’s Beach is on the list, for example, as are the state parks at Fort Adams and Brenton Point. Others, however, beckon explorers to strangely vacant lots on residential streets (often “between two houses I can’t afford,” jokes Dave Lombardi, a North Providence resident who has visited nearly all of the state’s designated shoreline access points) and quiet wooded paths that have been used by local fishermen for centuries to launch their boats or surf cast.
This right to access is taken quite seriously by the state’s Coastal Resource Management Center, which works to identify and protect shoreline rights-of-way, which occasionally fall victim to erosion, neglect or obfuscation by hostile abutters.
“The continuous discovery of rights-of-way to the shore has always been important to us, but in the last year it seems like more people have become aware of them,” says Laura Dwyer, the public educator and information coordinator for the CRMC. Dwyer attributes this to the desire to get outside — but reasonably distant from other people — during the COVID-19 pandemic. “The wonderful thing about it is there are so many and they are so different. Our mission is to keep the list growing.”
Other stewards include Middletown-based Clean Ocean Access, which marshals volunteers to keep the access points visible and clean; the Rhode Island Sea Grant, which has developed the exceptionally helpful Shoreline RI website (shoreline-ri.com) with details and directions to every access point in the state; and individual Rhode Islanders like Lombardi, who is disabled and helps identify and document rights-of-way with photos and details on handicap-accessibility.
“Whether you’re abled or disabled, I believe everyone should be able to access these places, because they are ours,” Lombardi says.
If you’re looking to hook a striper, launch a kayak, stroll the shore or simply soak in the sunset, here are 15 of Aquidneck Island’s oft-overlooked rights-of-way where access is your right and peaceful isolation is practically guaranteed. Just be sure to honor local parking regulations when visiting.
Newport
Kings Beach
Ocean Avenue has several coastal access points, but this is one of the best. Officially designated as a state fishing area, Kings Beach is located at the east end of Brenton Point State Park and has a boat launch, a rocky beach, and shallow waters that are popular with local scuba divers.
Ledge Road
Local homeowners have tried to hinder access to Ledge Road, but any pedestrian can use the street, and drivers with Newport resident stickers on their cars have the right to park there. The shoreline access point at the end of the road connects to the Cliff Walk. A walk along the shore will lead to Reject’s Beach and the private Bailey’s Beach Club.
Marine Avenue Beach
Access the rugged southern end of the Cliff Walk and a rocky beach — a good spot for finding sea glass — from this path at the corner of Wetmore and Marine avenues.
Pine Street
One of several CRMC-designated rights-of-way in The Point section of Newport, this small stretch of rocky beach at the end of Pine Street offers a beautiful view of the Newport Pell Bridge. It’s a nice spot to launch a kayak for a paddle around Newport Harbor.
Middletown
Kingfisher Avenue
At the intersection of Indian Avenue and Peckham Avenue is a 600-foot path to the edge of the Sakonnet River and the aptly named Pebble Beach, protected on its east side by a rocky outcrop popular for its excellent fishing.
Southeast End of Esplanade
Esplanade is a short road along the eastern shore of Easton Bay. Escape the crowds at nearby Easton’s Beach via the right-of-way at the intersection of Esplanade and Shore Drive, an unremarkable grassy lot between houses that leads downhill to a stretch of quiet beachfront.
Taggart’s Ferry Road/Indian Avenue
A broad, tree-lined path at the intersection of Taggart’s Ferry Road and Indian Avenue (near the east end of Howland Avenue) takes you to a rocky beach on the banks of the Sakonnet River — a great place to start your day with a sunrise. A ferry that operated here from the 1700s to 1870 carried produce from Little Compton to Newport. Depending upon the tide, intrepid explorers may be able to walk north along a bulkheaded stretch of shoreline to the mouth of Little Creek.
Tuckerman Avenue
Across the street from the home at 326 Tuckerman Ave. you’ll find a dirt path running through thick shrubbery to a shorefront of eroded granite shelves perfect for setting up a beach chair and absorbing the beautiful views of the Cliff Walk and Atlantic Beach.
Wolcott Avenue
This rocky and somewhat overgrown right-of-way is located at the intersection of Wolcott Avenue and Tuckerman Avenue. Look for parking on nearby side streets, then make your way down to the shore via the pathway to the left of the Clambake Club of Newport fence; at the end, you’ll be greeted with views of Sachuest Bay, Second Beach and the Sachuest Point National Wildlife Refuge.
Portsmouth
Carnegie Abbey
Willow Lane leads from Route 114 to a private marina on the west shore of Portsmouth that includes a public boat ramp and a boardwalk to a long stretch of undeveloped shoreline on Narragansett Bay.
McCorrie Lane
At the east end of McCorrie Lane is a public fishing area and an eight-acre beach used mostly by neighborhood residents, but open to the public. Parking, however, is restricted to those with a Portsmouth town beach pass.
Mount Hope Park
Mount Hope Park, at the juncture of Bristol Ferry Road and Bayview Avenue, is one of the newest and most accessible of the state-designated rights-of-way. The former landing for the historic Bristol ferry was acquired by the Aquidneck Land Trust and opened as a public park in 2019. The flat and treeless park affords unobstructed views of Mount Hope Bay.
Mount View Road
At the very tip of Common Fence Point is a little-known right-of-way that provides access to both the west and east shores of this peninsula jutting into Mount Hope Bay. Look for the sign in the brush at the very end of the road to the left of the picket fence belonging to 31 Mount View Road.
Pheasant Drive
Adjacent to the Newport Beach Club is the trailhead of a designated Urban Coastal Greenway, part of a linear trail system that in this case is a mile-plus stretch of beach leading north to the foot of the Mount Hope Bridge.
Town Pond
Just off Anthony Road is a half-mile trail that skirts the edge of Town Pond on one side and Founder’s Brook on the other, ending at the shore of Mount Hope Bay. The marshes here make for great bird-watching.
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The Link LonkMarch 23, 2021 at 01:36AM
https://www.newportri.com/story/lifestyle/2021/03/22/rights-way-offer-easy-access-aquidnecks-captivating-coastline/4800351001/
Rights-of-way offer easy coastline access - newportri.com
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