Beauty Of Carter Preserve In October
The 1,112 acre Francis C. Carter Memorial Preserve is beautiful in October. There are 8 miles of hiking trails to help you explore this beauty. Here are just a few pictures. To really experience the Carter Preserve you need to take a hike. Location information for the Carter Preserve and other Charlestown hiking opportunities are down below. During hunting season, you should always wear hunter orange even if the property you are hiking does not have any hunting.
Click on any photo to open in a light box.
Owned by the Nature Conservancy since 2001 and 2014, this 1,112 acre property was acquired with help from The Champlin Foundations, the Doris Duke Charitable Foundation, and the Cove Point Foundation. The preserve is dedicated to Francis (“Frank”) C. Carter, who led the Champlin Foundations for many years.
Straddling the rocky uplands of the Charlestown moraine and the sandy floodplain of the Pawcatuck River, the property supports a variety of natural communities, most notably rare pitch pine/scrub oak barrens, vernal pools, and a 70 acre grassland. This preserve is one of the largest protected properties in the state. It joins several thousand acres of contiguous forest and contributes to an 11-mile corridor of open space running from the Ninigret National Wildlife Refuge to the state’s Carolina Management Area.
Parking areas off of Old Mill Road, Kings Factory Road, and Route 112 lead to over 8 miles of hiking trails. A recent expansion of the Carter Preserve in both Charlestown and Richmond will add to these trails.
For more information about the Carter Preserve, along with guidelines for using the trails, please visit the Rhode Island Nature Conservancy webpage on this preserve.
Public Recreation/Conservation Areas in Charlestown Rhode Island
