ninigret national wildlife refuge and kettle pond visitors center

The Kettle Pond Visitor Center was a very pleasant surprise for us from the moment we drove in and saw the beautiful metal sculpture of a heron at parking lot entrance. Inside, at the entrance to the exhibit area, stands a large and amazing mosaic of a harlequin duck that is made up of thousands of smaller images. We spent some time just taking in the detail of this sign. Beyond that are some of the best educational exhibits we have seen for a relatively small facility. To appreciate what Ninigret National Wildlife Refuge has to offer, you really should allocate time here. There also is a small store in the environmentally-friendly building.We also walked the Watchaug Pond Trail, which we enjoyed, but be prepared for the fact that public access to the pond shore is quite limited once you get there unless you go into the state park. There are several good trails in the main part of the refuge (south of Rt. 1), and we suggest taking one of those before this one if time is limited.

This is a must-see natural preserve and education center where you will learn a lot about the ocean, salt ponds, coastal marshlands, and pond areas including the creatures that are found there. Please make a donation which is voluntary. This is a great center with a gift shop and volunteers from the biological science fields as well as state and federal park rangers who are also highly knowledgeable and helpful.

We stopped at the visitors center to start, it is very informative and well done, and a good introduction to the various refuges in the state. It's definitely worth stopping before headed out, the exhibits are well done. It's not overly large, but it works. I would recommend the trail to the observation deck right behind the center too. It's a simple winding walking path, but it was quite lovely with the fall leaves. You have decent views of the trees around and to the water from the deck as well at the end. Route 1 is there as well, but it's still worth it. Afterwards we did the trails over at Ninigret. Neat history and a very nice walk and good place to just enjoy being outside.

I usually walk the trails at Ninigret and Kettle Pond. Ninigret is mostly paved as it used to be an old base. There is a dog park there, a pond, a playground, soccer field and access trails to the salt ponds and the bay. it's a nice walk and a nice place to ride your bikes. it's tick heaven so definitely use insect repellent and long sleeves/pants. there are a couple of restrooms available as well. while folks that use the dog park are very good at curbing their dogs, there are wide open spaces where people are not as considerate. also the wild geese like the space too. just be wary of all the extra poo that isn't cleaned up. the majority of ninigret is wheelchair accessible. kettle pond area is much smaller. there are a few hiking trails that you will find folks hiking or riding mountain bikes. the trails also lead to the back side of burlingame state park where there is swimming and camp ground areas. the trails here are moderate so be prepared if you're going to hike them. only the visitor center is wheelchair accessible with a paved parking lot.

If you want to spend a enjoyable day outside, visit the Kettle Ponds National Wildlife Refuge, you will not be disappointed. It is best to start your visit at the Visitor Center they have wonderful exhibits and activities for kids of all ages. And then you will find a series of wonderful trails around the visitor center that will take you to the kettle ponds and also the forests which are wonderful in all seasons.The staff and volunteers who work there are knowledgeable, friendly and very helpful!!

when i lived in the area always hiked the preserve in all seasons. its a great place to introduce the outdoors to your young grandchildren, not to long and not to short.

I am a volunteer at the Wildlife Refuge. The place has something for everyone. New observation tower with two beautiful telescopes off a great view. Trails are all maintained and have various degrees of length and most are not difficult. THe inside of the Center has many displays and interactive activities.

The Kettle Pond Visitors Center has very impressive dioramas of area wildlife that will interest kids of all ages and adults. There are often activities for kids too. There are paths behind it that lead to vernal ponds. A very nice facility. Ninigret national wildlife refuge across the street (Rte. 1), and to get to it, you pass a young children's playground, field for flying kites, basketball courts, tennis courts, the Frosty Drew Observatory (Every clear Friday night - free huge telescope), and is right past the Charlestown Dog Park (FYI). It has several paths to choose: some go along the water with small bridges to cross, others go through larger fields with wild flowers, birds, and another brings you through areas of trees and bushes. It's a flat, easy walk that can be as long or short as you like. Fun to see coyote skat on the more vegetative path (but have never seen any coyote during the day!).

I mostly remember this being a good place for flat bike riding or practice driving. This would be a good place for a fair... it is an old airstripe/airport. You can do some hiking and there is a small beach for the pond.

We walked one of trails near the old landing strip. It was a beautiful, peaceful walk surrounded by great water views, lovely wildflowers, bird song. Wish we had had more time to explore the other trails and suspect this is beautiful in all seasons!

While driving back from Watch Hill RI we saw the sign off of Rte 1 and decided to stop in. Basically this area was a Navy Airfield for training throughout WWII known as "Charlietown". By 1970 it was handed over to the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. There are a handful of trails with some amount of paving and sections of it are still wide runway clearings that nature is slowing taking back. The town also has an Observatory (closed when we were there), a kids playground and a small science center (which we didn't check out). Basically we just took a couple mile walk on some trails. Quiet peaceful area overall but we didn't find much to love about it. Kind of surreal to watch nature take back from man but on the flip side it almost seems like the place time forgot.

Such a peaceful place. There are many wonderful and varied trails to walk and explore. Most of the terrain is even and easy to walk. Many of the trails have a canopy of foliage from tall trees that make the walk cool and enjoyable.

Trails with no elevation gain make this refuge walkable for most and those with physical disability strollers. Trails are fine crushed stone, tar, compact dirt and grass with a hard solid base. I recommend planning a visit to be in the refuge near sunrise or sunset for optimal wildlife viewing since that's when they are most active. I saw and heard deer in thick vegetation, plenty of eastern cottontails and signs of coyote and fox. The water brings a huge variety of waterfowl and birds. I was gifted a view of a diving/fishing osprey and a pair of blue heron along with a variety of seagulls, cormorants and mallards. There is one out/bathroom and activities include fishing, kayaking, hunting, wildlife viewing and photography. There are no fields for play, but these can be found separately at Ninigret Park.

We enjoyed the playground. The swimming pond looked fun and there was a lifeguard on duty. There is even a dog park but there were no dogs when we went. There were bathroom facilities and an area for barbeques. Next time we'll bring a picnic lunch and swim suits.

We visited Rhode Island last May 2013 . In this trip we wanted to do something different so we opted the trip to Kettle Pond and Ninigret Natoinal Wildlife Refuge . We saw a lot of birds : gold finches, titmouse and female cardinal . One can walk around the park and watch nature. Guests must register and they may borrow a bird field guide and a pair of binoculars.