Davis Memorial Wildlife Refuge

Location: North Kingstown RI

Distance: 2.1 miles

Difficulty: Easy

Davis Memorial Wildlife Refuge is a hidden gem. Located just minutes off Route4 is this 96 acre Audobon Society property abutting the Hunt River. This preserve provides a couple miles of gentle hiking or kayaking. Kids will love it for the opportunity to see ospreys, hawks, and other large birds. Adults will enjoy the solitude it provides.

You start next to the Hunt River. Keeping the river to your right, you swiftly come to a clearing with views across the river and south- where you can see where you will visit later on. The trail here is blazed orange and makes a loop back to the parking lot. Within a ½ mile you come to the power lines. Here you can continue on the orange trail and back to the parking lot or continue deeper into the Refuge. I recommend following the trail, stay to the right. You will return on the trails to the left.

From here to the end of the peninsula, you will pass through hard wood forests and some marshy areas. Once you start heading back you will enter a white pine unlike any other. The pines are shaped like wine glasses from having their tops consistently trimmed by the power company. The event is other worldly. Once you pass through the pines you find yourself back at the orange trail. Follow it back to the parking lot.