Gaia: Track Miles: 12mi  Duration: 5:00  Rating: 10/10

Although our group had hiked trails within Burlingame Management State Park before, we had never hiked around Watchaug Pond, a 573 acre pond. On average, our group hikes 5-7 miles, but hiking around the pond sounded like a challenge we could not pass up. The hike around the pond can be done in as few as 7 miles, or if you take the outermost trails, you can make it a 12-mile hike. Everyone who was available to hike, stepped up and opted for the 12-mile hike. We even had a new hiker (trail name: “Knees”), who decided to join us just because it was a 12 mile hike.

As we hiked through the trails, we encountered fresh deer tracks, but surprisingly, we didn’t see any wildlife. However, we did see a painted rock, a few babbling brooks that feed into Watchaug Pond, and man-made rock walls that were likely built in the early 1800s to contain sheep or separate farm animals from crop fields. Another observation the hikers made was how quickly the color of the leaves changed between one week and the next. The picture doesn’t do it justice, but the view of the trees across the pond was breathtaking.

As it turned out, the Rhode Island Trail Classic was being held at Burlingame State Park on the same day we were hiking. The Rhode Island Trail Classic is a 7-mile trail around the pond where participants run around the trail as many times as they can between 7:00am and 6:00pm. While we were hiking, we often had to step aside to let the runners through, that we took as an opportunity to root them on. I’d like to think our words of encouragement helped them through one more lap in hopes of passing us again on the next lap.

Overall, the 12-mile hike around Watchaug Pond was a challenging but rewarding experience. We enjoyed the scenery, the camaraderie amongst ourselves as well as with the runners we met on the trail, and the sense of accomplishment we felt at the end of the day. If you’re looking for a challenging hike in Rhode Island, I highly recommend hiking around Watchaug Pond.