Beavertail Light LbNA #9233
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Add Location| Owner: | DrewFamily    |
|---|---|
| Plant date: | Apr 20, 2003 |
| Location: | |
| City: | Jamestown |
| County: | Newport |
| State: | Rhode Island |
| Boxes: | 1 |
| Found by: | Samson n Delilah |
|---|---|
| Last found: | Apr 22, 2018 |
| Status: | FFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFaFF |
| Last edited: | Apr 20, 2003 |
An easy 2.5 to 3 mile walk with some mild scrambling on the rocky southern shoreline of Jamestown. Careful of the late-summer poison ivy!
Directions: just before (or after) the toll booths of the Newport Bridge, on RI Rt. 138 in Jamestown, take the downtown exit. Travel down through the picturesque harbor and continue straight through a stop sign. Turn right on Hamilton Ave and go up and over a small hill, coming down to Mackerel Cove. Go straight across this small barrier of beach and then travel 2 miles south to Beavertail Park, stopping at Parking Area #2. Bring a camera, watercolors, kids, and kites.
On foot, travel southwards on grass or the road right down to the lighthouse and enjoy the wild views out Rhode Island Sound to Block Island. The tip of the island here splits Narragansett Bay into East and West Passages. Continuing northwards with the East Passage to your right, walk up to Parking Area #3, and then travel on grass near the rocky shore. You'll pass between the sea and an abandoned shoreside gun emplacement that in past wars guarded this important anchorage. Passing Lot #4, move down to the shoreline rocks, which are a jumble but generally smooth and walkable. You'll notice they suddenly change from light grey to a dark, almost black slate. Just opposite this last parking lot in the surf you may see wreckage from the sailing ship H.F. Payton, which sank in 1859 carrying large rectangular building blocks. Look closely for carvings, barely legible after years of wear.
Follow the shoreline north to a chasm in the rocks. This area is called Lion's Head Gorge, and is a likely place to find birds, seals, and flotsam. Cross the shoreward side of the gorge on a narrow goat trail and travel left to another, smaller gorge. The path continues around another mini-point with a view of the towers of the Newport Bridge. Another short section of goat trail will bring you to a hidden indentation in the coast with tumbled rock chunks and evergreen cedar trees. Just behind a shard of rock at the top of the cliff on your left, find the Beavertail Light Letterbox. If you miss this box, the next point really opens the view of summer homes to the north, telling you that you've gone too far.
After stamping in and lingering to watch the boats and the opposite shore at Castle Hill, backtrack southwards along the water to Parking Area #4. Turn right, north, on the road and in a short while pass the park entrance on your right and a dirt road branching left to more bunkers and gun emplacements, with official-looking radio towers. Go straight across the road to Parking Area #1. There is an optional side trail going to the right at the north end of the lot. This trail travels briefly north before branching left (west) down to the water and a hidden beach. Hiking south along the cliffs is no fun from here, so return to the road and walk south to your waiting car. It may be hard to leave, trading the wind, waves, and rocks for what's next.
Directions: just before (or after) the toll booths of the Newport Bridge, on RI Rt. 138 in Jamestown, take the downtown exit. Travel down through the picturesque harbor and continue straight through a stop sign. Turn right on Hamilton Ave and go up and over a small hill, coming down to Mackerel Cove. Go straight across this small barrier of beach and then travel 2 miles south to Beavertail Park, stopping at Parking Area #2. Bring a camera, watercolors, kids, and kites.
On foot, travel southwards on grass or the road right down to the lighthouse and enjoy the wild views out Rhode Island Sound to Block Island. The tip of the island here splits Narragansett Bay into East and West Passages. Continuing northwards with the East Passage to your right, walk up to Parking Area #3, and then travel on grass near the rocky shore. You'll pass between the sea and an abandoned shoreside gun emplacement that in past wars guarded this important anchorage. Passing Lot #4, move down to the shoreline rocks, which are a jumble but generally smooth and walkable. You'll notice they suddenly change from light grey to a dark, almost black slate. Just opposite this last parking lot in the surf you may see wreckage from the sailing ship H.F. Payton, which sank in 1859 carrying large rectangular building blocks. Look closely for carvings, barely legible after years of wear.
Follow the shoreline north to a chasm in the rocks. This area is called Lion's Head Gorge, and is a likely place to find birds, seals, and flotsam. Cross the shoreward side of the gorge on a narrow goat trail and travel left to another, smaller gorge. The path continues around another mini-point with a view of the towers of the Newport Bridge. Another short section of goat trail will bring you to a hidden indentation in the coast with tumbled rock chunks and evergreen cedar trees. Just behind a shard of rock at the top of the cliff on your left, find the Beavertail Light Letterbox. If you miss this box, the next point really opens the view of summer homes to the north, telling you that you've gone too far.
After stamping in and lingering to watch the boats and the opposite shore at Castle Hill, backtrack southwards along the water to Parking Area #4. Turn right, north, on the road and in a short while pass the park entrance on your right and a dirt road branching left to more bunkers and gun emplacements, with official-looking radio towers. Go straight across the road to Parking Area #1. There is an optional side trail going to the right at the north end of the lot. This trail travels briefly north before branching left (west) down to the water and a hidden beach. Hiking south along the cliffs is no fun from here, so return to the road and walk south to your waiting car. It may be hard to leave, trading the wind, waves, and rocks for what's next.