Escoheag Trail

The Escoheag Trail explores the western reaches of Arcadia Management Area through a landscape defined by cedar swamps, mountain laurel tunnels, and the quiet streams of the Wood–Pawcatuck watershed. The trail takes its name from the Escoheag Hill area of West Greenwich, one of the few elevated points in Rhode Island's otherwise flat coastal plain. The route passes through extensive Atlantic white cedar swamps—a globally rare wetland type found primarily along the Atlantic coastal plain from New Jersey to Georgia, with Rhode Island representing the northern edge of its range. The cedar swamps create an almost otherworldly environment: gnarled, lichen-draped trees rising from dark, tannin-stained water, their root systems forming intricate, ankle-twisting tangles above the sphagnum moss carpet. Boardwalk sections help hikers navigate the wettest areas while protecting the fragile vegetation. The mountain laurel tunnels connecting the swamp sections bloom explosively in mid-June, creating dense, chest-high corridors of white and pink blossoms that are among the most memorable natural spectacles in Rhode Island. The trail passes several beaver impoundments where otters have been documented in recent years as the species recolonizes its former range. Deadfall and standing dead trees throughout the swamps provide critical habitat for red-headed woodpeckers and other cavity-nesting species.