Lincoln Woods State Park

by Stacey Stearns

Lincoln Woods State Park consists of 627 acres in the Blackstone Valley. It has the distinction of being Rhode Island’s first state park, established on February 12, 1909. February 12 is Abraham Lincoln’s birthday, so the park was named for him.

Lincoln Woods is close to Pawtucket, Cumberland, and Providence. While sitting in Providence traffic my GPS told me I was only minutes away from the park. A few minutes later, I pulled into the parking lot of Sunset Stables, a privately owned operation adjacent to the state park.

This helps protect trails for equestrian use and keeps everyone safe as there are some blind corners on the trails. Horses use Zone A, the trails to the west of Quinsicket Road; Zone B is a multi-use trail that allows mountain biking. Picnic tables and other recreational areas need to be reserved because it’s such a popular park.

A Leg Up

Lincoln Woods State Park is large, so you’ll want to park in the correct place to ride Zone A. The official address is 2 Manchester Print Works Road, but it is easier to come in on Twin River Road, off Route 146.

Lincoln Woods' location in the northeastern part of the state makes it a popular destination for many residents. Visitors enjoy Olney Pond, a central part of the park, and are welcomed by a covered bridge at the Breakneck Hill Entrance. Olney Pond offers swimming in the summer, and ice fishing in the winter. Little League playing fields, fishing, boating, and other activities are also popular.

Increased trail use led the Department of Environmental Management (DEM), which manages the property, to split the trail system into two zones to accommodate both equestrians and mountain bikers.

Use the address for Sunset Stables, located just outside the park, in your GPS: 1 Twin River Road. Drive past Sunset Stables and go through the park entrance. Take a right and park in the large, paved lot on the left side after the giant rock. The parking lot and rock are both easily identifiable. I met three Department of Environmental Management officers on bicycles, and asked one about horse trailer parking, and this was his recommendation. The road is a 2.5-mile loop (with one-way traffic) around Olney Pond.

You’ll ride back past the entrance to get to the trails in Zone A. The trail is on the left, beyond the yellow gate. Download a copy of the map onto your phone at riparks.ri.gov/sites/g/files/xkgbur881/ files/2023-02/map-lincoln-woods.pdf.

I recommend riding on a weekday or during the off season as Olney Pond, the picnic areas, and trails are busy on the weekends. I rode in May, before the Memorial Day holiday, and the park was packed when I explored it after leaving Sunset Stables.

There are speed bumps and a bridge after the beach; drive carefully when pulling a horse trailer. Pack fly spray, water for your horse, and be sure to clean around your trailer before leaving.

Out Riding It

I visited Lincoln Woods on a weekend, so decided to ride with Sunset Stables, an official park concessionaire, instead of trying to find trailer parking. Jim Borden owns and operates Sunset Stables with Linda Oliviera, his partner. Sunset Stables has operated for more than 25 years, and there are close to 30 horses on the property. In addition to offering guided trail rides, they have lesson programs in multiple disciplines, take riders to shows, and offer cow sorting and team penning.

“The state park is very scenic with a lot of wildlife,” Jim says. “Trail rides here are relaxing, almost therapeutic, and the horses we have are some of the best around for beginner as well as experienced riders. We spend a lot of time finding the right horses and training them.”

Diamond, my horse for the day, was a spunky black gelding who knows the trails and enjoys his job. I rode with the guide, and a man and his young daughter, neither of whom had ridden before. The staff at Sunset Stables gave them some basic instructions before we headed out on the trail.

We rode from the Sunset Stables property right into the state park, entering Zone A trails near the Zachariah Allen Spring. Those parking near Olney Pond and riding on their own will enter the trails near Tablerock Hill, after riding down the park road past Chimney Grove and the picnic areas. Either way, the Zone A trails are giant loops with interior trails allowing you to add distance to your ride. You can easily spend a couple of hours exploring the trails, including riding out to Quinsicket Pond.

Our group picked up the trail near Zachariah Allen Spring and headed north. At the first intersection we took a right, riding toward the connector trail for the main part of the park. At the connector trail we went left to stay on Zone A trails, riding toward the trail to Quinsicket Pond. Instead of going right at the fork, we stayed left to continue looping in Zone A.

The trails are rocky, with a lot of huge boulders. A receding glacier created the Blackstone Valley 15,000 years ago. It moved south from Massachusetts through Rhode Island, leaving the valley, and the boulders on the trails here, in its wake.

We weaved around the boulders and trees, and were in the shade most of the time. Birds sang throughout the ride. We saw no other trail users in Zone A, since they are horse trails only. It’s like having your own private trail system. It was even more surprising once I left Sunset Stables to explore the rest of the park and saw how many people were in the other areas. The only other sound of civilization was when we rode the back side of the loop in Zone A, near Breakneck Hill Road. I could hear cars in the distance, but not for long, as we looped back into the woods.

Soon, we rounded a bend and were headed back toward the private trails of Sunset Stables. We dismounted, and the smile on the little girl’s face told me that we might have a future equestrian in our midst.

Lincoln Woods State Park is a hub of recreational activity, but the designated horse zone makes it a peaceful escape for equestrians. Happy trails!

Stacey Stearns, a lifelong equestrian living in Connecticut, enjoys trail riding and endurance with her Morgan horses.