Dartmouth Trail Features Historic Site

The Dartmouth Natural Resources Trust, known by many locals as DNRT, features many trails on the SouthCoast that are great for walking, birding and history.

The organization works hard to protect over 5,500 acres on land in our area. Not only is the land protected, much of it can be enjoyed by people, dogs and even horses.

On a recent walk with my family, I noticed a spot I was unaware of: a historic site that's incorporated into the Paskamansett Woods trail.

View the Trail Map 

Explore the Trail

The trail itself offers two options, one noted with orange markers and one marked with green. The trail is very family-friendly in that it's rather flat, clearly marked, well maintained and not very long.

The orange trail is just over one mile and the green is just over half. My kids are three and five and they tackled the whole trail no problem.

We began our adventure at the marked parking lot on Chase Road, where information and maps are available. We grabbed one since it was our first time on the trail.

In addition to the trail options, we noticed a local landmark.

Get our free mobile app

Historic Stone Bridge

Not too far into our hike, we came across the Kings Road Bridge (marked as Historic Stone Bridge on the map). The bridge is marked by a large stone with an engraved message stating the following:

"KINGS ROAD BRIDGE

PASKAMANSETT RIVER

FOLLOWING A NATIVE AMERICAN PATH

THIS HAND CRAFTED STONE BRIDGE

FORMED A VITAL LINK BETWEEN

PLYMOUTH AND NEWPORT IN THE 1800'S

RESTORED IN 2004"

With "stone" in the name, the bridge itself does require some choice footing when crossing, but can easily be done.

If you're looking for a fun, family (and dog) friendly trail to explore, I recommend this one. Not too far, beautiful scenery and a touch of history.