Don’t let another winter go by without visiting the seals on Narragansett Bay!
Prepare for a day at Rome Point on Narragansett Bay by packing a lunch, binoculars, and an extra layer of warmth so you won’t have to turn back early if the wind picks up. The hour-and-change ride from the city is worth it if you need time to clear your head, unplug, and go away through the woods to a long, remote beach where, in winter, seals outnumber people.* Possibly the most inviting, undeveloped open space on the bay, the John H. Chafee Nature Preserve is indisputably the one most remarkable for having a bus stop at the trailhead.
All RIPTA #14 buses serve the stop at John H Chafee / Rome Point Preserve hourly, every day. On weekdays, trips alternate Providence-Newport and Providence-Narragansett. Weekends, all runs serve Newport. If you are adept at reading schedules or using the transit app, you can sometimes shorten time-in-transit with a transfer to or from a #66 at Wickford Junction. It will be nice someday when frequent train service lets you speedily bypass the #14’s meanders through Warwick.
The preserve is easy to navigate. A broad, straight gravel trail perpendicular to Route 1A roughly bisects it, running ¾ mile mostly downhill from the trailhead to a bench by the bay. Short side trails wind about off either side. The former Sea View Trolley Line, now a small powerline, crosses the main trail a short way from the beach. Unless committed to a careful tick check when you get home, you should keep to wide trails and the beach. It is wise to make note of how long you took to reach the water and decide in advance where you will linger and when you must depart with a safe time-cushion to catch the hourly bus. If you are prone to taking wrong turns, exit the beach via that straight main trail.
This could be the quietest location reachable via bus and a short walk. That omnipresent road hum just about vanishes beneath birdsong and rustles in the underbrush. Distant engine noise intrudes occasionally from a boat or loud vehicle in the otherwise silent traffic in view on the Jamestown Bridge. The view is classic Narragansett Bay. Just offshore are the floats of an oyster farm, a pleasant sight if you favor clean water and sustainable seafood. Across the West Passage is Conanicut Island (Jamestown). Plum Beach Lighthouse is to your right, dwarfed by the sleek Jamestown Verrazanno Bridge.
Turn right at the shore if you wish to lengthen what would otherwise be a moderate 2-3 mile hike with up to several miles of adventure. Pick your way between the waves and lightly developed private property. The going is easiest at low tide. When a stream crossing or a rocky section seems too challenging, just turn back. Otherwise, keep going under the Jamestown Bridge and beyond to the bay, about 4 miles away. RIPTA #64 stops there 9 times every weekday, making possible a bayside excursion from Newport, or Providence via Kingston, without retracing your steps.
You are most likely to see seals off Rome Point, a peninsula at the northeast corner of the preserve. The first path on the left after you leave the trailhead is a shortcut to the point. When you see water, bear right. Otherwise, follow the main trail and turn left along the beach. North of the narrow, wooded peninsula are Bissel Cove and Bissel Island, sculpted by swift tidal currents. In the water off the tip, about a dozen large rocks are exposed at low tide.
Harbor seals like to keep a certain distance from humans, which happens to be the distance from which we can barely see them, which happens to be how far offshore these rocks are, which means there is no better place to bring a scope or binoculars to watch seals for an extended period. Most winter days, as the tide recedes, a dozen or more gather to climb up, loaf, and play.
Some hike to this spot, look around, and head back to the road, all done in one hour. But the wildlife and scenery are best enjoyed as a relaxing daycation. Nearby, a house on little Fox Island is an invitation to daydream. In the distance are Prudence Island and the Mount Hope Bridge towers. Industrial installations at Quonset Point are a contrast that remind one how the natural beauty dominating the view is not so much untouched as well-tended, loved in a Rhode Island way that you can join. No matter where the wind is coming from, you can usually find a sheltered picnic spot on one side or the other of Rome Point.
* Except in fair weather on weekends. Even then the crowd has room to spread out.
