Blackstone River Valley National Heritage Corridor

The next morning I got up bright and early and decided to go hiking to Carpenter Rocks which is a short trail in the campground. I saw the trailhead on the map and saw it was by another campground loop so I set off with no water or trail map figuring I’d just grab water from the next loop. Well the next loop is arrived at by walking along a mile long road uphill and by the time I reached it I realized that I was basically on a loop above my campsite. I went back to my site and got the map and some water and set out again. I walked around the Mill Pond trail for a diversion from the road. The trail to Carpenter rocks was nice and short and I had a great view of the forest. After getting back to my site I packed up and headed out for another day of adventures. My plan for the day was to drive the Blackstone River Valley National Heritage Corridor. The Corridor is dedicated to the history of the early American Industrial Revolution, including mill towns stretching across 24 cities and towns. My first stop was Purgatory Chasm. No trail in the Chasm was more than a mile long so I hiked to Little Purgatory first. Then when I made my way back to the start of the Chasm I saw a group of loud little children so I decided to hike the upper chasm trail first. Finally I made my way into the chasm and it was awesome! The Chasm runs for a quarter of a mile between granite walls rising as high as 70 feet. The trail is basically spray painted rocks and it requires some maneuvering to get from one end to another. It’s a very unique little trail and I’m very glad I stopped.

I then followed the Blackstone Valley Heritage Corridor down to Providence, RI and stopped at several interesting places along the way including:

Lookout Rock

Riverbend Farm-a very charming visitor center

Stanley Woolen Mill was a large and prolific woolen mill that produced cloth for some of the premier designers like Pierre Cardin

Triad Bridge-Built in the late 1800's, this tiered bridge crisscrosses the Blackstone River at three different heights to allow three railroad lines to intersect and cross the Blackstone River.

Stone Arch Bridge

Blackstone Gorge

Great Neck Road Historic District- a nice spot to stop for lunch

Slater Mill-the birthplace of the Industrial Revolution

Sylvanus Brown House
Slater and Wilkinson Mill

Roger Williams National Historic Site-he was the founder of Rhode Island

My favorite part of the day was walking along Benefit Street in Providence. It is known as the Mile Of History because it is filled with some of the most historic homes in America. The architecture is so pretty.

It seemed like at any moment Ben Franklin would come walking outThe Nightingale-Brown House, which dates back to 1792, is one of the largest eighteenth-century wood frame houses in North America.

I also strolled through Brown University (so I could say I've been to an Ivy League school) and the Rhode Island School of Design. It was quite the workout as the streets are very steeply pitched. These students must be very fit. I left just as it started raining and made my way to Sippewisset Campground for the night. It was the only place that would take a one night reservation for July 3rd and I was very grateful to have a guaranteed spot to sleep. What a day!