Thinking about a spring hike? Have you been to the ocean since last summer? Everything you love about the ocean is there all year long, everything except for swimming… unless you happen to be a penguin. There is no wrong weather, only wrong clothes. Your warmest winter garb may not be up to par with a January storm at sea, but it should suffice when inland weather hints of spring. Make sure it’s windproof head to toe, and bring at least one layer more than you think you need.
However you get there, if you hike one oceanfront trail in New England, it has to be Newport’s 3.5 mile Cliff Walk. Both ends are easy to reach by bus; what else is there to say? If you are, however, curious about alternatives, the short list of must-see places to ramble, comb tide pools and watch full-on surf – other than plain old public beaches – begins indisputably with Beavertail Park in Jamestown.
Unfortunately, Beavertail is not accessible by bus, but there are also excellent places you can ride a bus to on the other side of the bridge. Sandy or rugged, short or epic, various hikes in the Point Judith vicinity can start and end at scattered points between Sand Hill Cove and Black Point’s pink granite cliffs, via route #66- #69, now a one seat ride Providence- Kingston- Galilee. Route #14 takes you from Providence to Narragansett’s seawall by Town Beach or to Whale Rock Preserve.
Never heard of it? Whale Rock Trail would be almost as famous and popular as Sachuest or Fort Wetherill, were it not for the ocean being a half mile walk from the nearest parking space. But once there you have well over half a mile of wild ocean shore to explore. Slowly pick your way along promontories and inlets, or bypass them on a flat path along the perimeter fence of Camp Varnum. (It’s far quainter than what one pictures as a National Guard camp). The path ends at a large remote beach. Boats of all sizes pass to and from the West and East passages of Narragansett Bay. The foundation of Whale Rock Lighthouse, just offshore, is where the lightkeeper perished and the lighthouse toppled in the ‘38 hurricane. Just beyond the melancholy ruin is Beavertail Lighthouse and beyond that, Newport’s Brenton Point. With binoculars you can see kites being flown.
A 20-25 minute walk is the superpower that leaves crowds behind on even the most beautiful day. Get off the #14 from Providence at Old Boston Neck, just north of the bridge over the Narrow River. Cross the road and walk a third of a mile down Old Boston Neck Road (very light traffic) straight ahead into a narrow driveway with a sign for Whale Rock Preserve. Pass a house onto a half mile trail mostly atop slender boardwalks, through densely overgrown wetlands. Who doesn’t love striding along those little boardwalks? You hear surf grow louder over the birdsong long before you emerge at the battered shore. This is the very definition of a hidden gem.
Runner up in the category of ocean hikes with transit access, Whale Rock should have been an early 2F2B writeup but there are only 7 round trips a day, 99 minutes each way from Providence, and no weekend service in winter. Not even this transit nerd could spin that as “No big deal; just hop on the bus!” “Why make the effort to be on time for a rare bus and long ride?” is asking the wrong question. Instead, ask when to make the effort. Consider the surf. When giant swells roll from from the southeast they take improbably long to break. Then they crash, flinging spray as near as you dare to approach, against forlorn Whale Rock, against Beavertail and over scattered shoals in the distance. When winds are light from the west all that power is spent by a sea that otherwise looks like glass. Nothing compares. When surf is high, Whale Rock Preserve gets a little less lonesome. Visitors banter or exchange knowing glances, perhaps while watching an intrepid surfer. It feels like a club. The Whale Rock Surf Watchers.
If you think you might ever benefit from a getaway like that, make it a little likelier to happen. Go to www.surf-forecast.com/regions/ Rhode-Island and sign up for an alert whenever waves from the southeast quadrant are tall enough to possibly nudge you to change plans on a few days notice. The higher you set it the less often it dings. The higher the surf, the more people get notified. A notification can’t force you to do anything. No one expects an RSVP. But it will make you think: Could you invite someone? Could you take a day off? Call in sick for a mental health day? Schoolkids should not be the only ones who get to bunk when time is right.
The higher the surf, the likelier there will be other surfwatchers on the bus.. Make any kind of friendly remark and go on to swap stories with somebody random on the way to enjoy nature.. Anytime you do not feel like engaging, put on earbuds and ride in the usual manner. There is room to spread out on the trail, and no pressure to hang together. Riding the 9:10 #14 from Kennedy Plaza gets you about 2 ½ hours outdoors before boarding for home at 1:17, or staying an extra 2 or 4 hours. Leaving KP at 1:10, you get a couple hours at the shore before the last bus home at 5:24. Providence-Newport #60 buses are generally a half hour apart and operate in the evening. From downtown Newport, the Cliff Walk requires a walk or transfer to the #67. A day in Newport with all its options is awesome indeed, but a Whale Rock excursion is tightly focused: Ride, trail, ocean.
An all-welcome social event not centered on drinking that costs $4 that no one organizes: Whale Rock Surf Jam organizes you! An Only-inRhode-Island-Vacation-in-a-Day. Meetup on the bus when surf is worth watching. If you have read this far, admit it: You are already in the Surfwatch Club. You maybe haven’t gone to a meeting yet. •
P.S. When an exceptional day of waves and weather approaches, I will try to post on Bluesky @2feet2bucks.com even when I won’t be going.
