The Barrington Land Conservation Trust will offer free guided walks in May at the Doug Rayner Wildlife Refuge and the Hampden Meadows Greenbelt, along with a Spanish-language walk at Sowams Woods — a first for the Land Trust.
All ages are welcome, including children with parental supervision. Registration is required due to limited parking. To register for any of these walks, visit our Events Page.
Hampden Meadows Greenbelt
On Wednesday, May 8, at 10 am, Land Trust Executive Director Cindy Elder will lead a two-mile guided walk along the Hampden Meadows Greenbelt.
This walk combines the broad, largely flat public path between Kent Street and Linden Road with a woodsy side trail that leads to New Meadow Road.
The Greenbelt is town-owned land which covers 132 acres comprising a 113-acre red maple swamp and bordering uplands. It is managed by the Barrington Conservation Commission.
Doug Rayner Wildlife Refuge
The Land Trust will also offer two guided walks at the Doug Rayner Wildlife Refuge on Wed., May 15 and Friday, May 17, at 10 am. The walks will be led by Peter McCalmont, Chairman of the Doug Rayner Wildlife Refuge Management Committee, and Charlie Brown, retired wildlife biologist with the Rhode Island Department of Environmental Management, Co-Chair of the Management Committee and Co-Manager of the Refuge.
The Refuge is located on Nockum Hill on a peninsula extending into the Barrington River and Hundred Acre Cove estuary. Owned by the Town of Barrington, the Refuge’s public hiking trails traverse 82 acres of field, forest and shoreline.
Sowams Woods – in Spanish
Land Trust Board Member Lizeth Garcia Garcia, a native Spanish speaker, will conduct a tour of Sowams Woods in Spanish on Saturday, May 18, at 10 am. Experience this network of public trails, considered sacred by the Pokanoket people, in the height of their springtime glory. The walk will traverse the edge of Echo Lake and loop through the outer trails of Sowams Woods.
“We want to welcome native Spanish speakers to our local conservation properties,” says Land Trust Executive Director Cindy Elder. “This walk is also a great opportunity for students of Spanish and folks who want to brush up their language skills to have an immersive Spanish-language experience in one of Barrington’s beautiful public nature preserves.
The event page and registration form for this Spanish-language walk is provided in Spanish and English. You don’t need to speak Spanish to attend the walk – you can enjoy the beautiful scenery in any language!
The Barrington Land Conservation Trust has preserved approximately 300 acres of open space in perpetuity for the benefit of the public.
To register for any of these walks, visit our Events Page.