When we got out of church today it was in the high 50's so we discussed a few different places that we should go to for a walk. We were on Post Road heading south to go to Jamestown, and as we came upon the exit for Goddard Park, I said to Dan "Let's go there". So we turned off Rt. 1 and drove down Ives Road to get to the main entrance and parked off the road before you head down the hill to get to the beach parking area.
There are many different trails to walk on in Goddard Park, and at this time of the year, most of the roads are closed off to motorized traffic, offering even more opportunities of places to travel on foot.
We started on the road that takes you into the middle of the park for a little while until we came to the road that leads to the mulching area for the park. Walking through the mulching area, we were greeted with the fragrant aroma of organic matter decomposing, a very earthy smell that I happen to like, especially when we have been frozen over for much of the last 4 months, it is a harbinger of the coming spring and all it's glorious smells. This trail took us to the path that runs along the cove, the other side being East Greenwich. It winds in and around trees, and every once in a while you will be greeted by something that the horses in the stables down the way leave behind on their rides through the same trails. I'd much rather deal with horse droppings than dog matter!
The trail brought us down to a parking lot at the boat ramp, and we took a detour to the shoreline and then took the road that leads over to the horse stables. At the other end of the parking lot, there is a very small pond that still was quite covered with ice, except around the edges where it was already mushy. when we got to the stable area, there is a little ring for small children to ride the pony, but I think I'm a little to big for that, but he was absolutely adorable. My last experience on a horse was a rather bad one, but I could probably deal with a pony, oh well.
Up over the hill we went to the huge field that has a large long rock in it, and behind that a large, old oak tree.




There are quite a few fields in this park, and during the summer they are always full of families having cook outs and playing ball games. Today there were just walkers, runners and dogs. The next field we came to has another large, old oak tree and this one is so large that Dan was able to climb inside and fit rather comfortably.



Unfortunately, I do not think that this tree will last through too many storms, but nevertheless it is a beautiful site. We followed the road back to the car, and the whole walk took us about 1 hr. & 15 minutes. You could walk for hours around this park if you walked all the different trails and the roads.
My son Chopper used to work at this park and he knows a whole lot about the history before it was given to the state in the 1920's, most of which I cannot remember at this time. The families that owned it for almost 2 centuries were very conscientious and planted many different species of trees there. Below is a link that details a little of the history of how this park became forested.