The Flintlock Trail

A new hiking trail
with an
old mystery
The Flintlock Trail is a brand new hiking trail that was officially opened on Nov 10. It’s in the Tillinghast Management Area, an almost 2,000 acre chunk of land owned by the Nature Conservancy. The trail is in West Greenwich, Rhode Island but Unilocal in their convoluted wisdom insists on locating it in Bethesda, Md. I’m sure I will have to fight to get it changed.
It’s described as a loop but it’s actually several different loops and of course it is easy to get lost. But then that’s the real fun of a hike. You will eventually end up somewhere.
It’s an easy hike, few hills and nicely cleared trails. Mostly white pine with a lot of different hard woods thrown in. Smells really nice and is quite lovely in the New England fall. If you look carefully you will see ancient stone walls and vague impressions of old structures. Like most of this area, the land was obviously used for farming in the past. I didn’t see much wildlife but I have heard that plenty of deer, beavers and otters as well as numerous birds and amphibians call this place home. With all the water around I’m sure plenty of insects also enjoy this area in the warmer months.
The woods are also used for hunting so it is a good idea, as well as the law to wear bright orange during hunting season to avoid being nailed by some myopic as well as possibly intoxicated hunter.
A nice new hiking area that is a pleasant place to spend a few hours with nature. One very enigmatic and mysterious object that we found out of the trail was an old safe. Not just a little bitty thing but a huge, very heavy safe like you would find in a bank or store. Hmmmmm. The door was ripped off and bullet marks were obvious on the front. Can’t imagine how that got out here in the woods but I’m sure it has an interesting tale to tell. If it could only speak.