North Trail

The North Trail explores the most lightly used and least signposted section of George Washington Management Area, threading through wilder terrain north of Bowdish Reservoir where trail maintenance is minimal and the forest has a correspondingly untamed character. The route follows a combination of unmarked forest roads, old cart paths, and informal footways through chestnut oak and red maple uplands broken by glacially scoured wetland basins. Hikers should carry a compass and topographic map as trail blazing is inconsistent and navigation requires attention, particularly at stream crossings where the path can become obscure. The reward for accepting this modest navigational challenge is complete solitude: on most weekdays and even many weekends, hikers are unlikely to encounter other people on this section of the management area. The forest here has a raw, unmediated quality—blowdowns are left where they fall, creating coarse woody debris that supports a rich community of fungi, salamanders, and cavity-nesting birds. Hermit thrushes sing from dense thickets throughout the spring and early summer breeding season, their liquid, spiraling phrases echoing through the forest. The terrain is genuinely hilly by Rhode Island standards, with several short steep pitches over rocky glacial ridges that make the distance feel more substantial than the modest elevation gain suggests.