The location you clicked on is a site for launching hand-carried boats such as canoes or kayaks.

Site Name: Freedom Green

Town: East Providence

Driving Landmarks: Take 195 east to Exit 6 (Broadway). Turn right at end of ramp onto Warren Avenue. Turn right at first light onto Broadway and go 1.3 miles to the intersection of Roger Williams Avenue/Centre Street and North Broadway. Freedom Green Park is on the right. There is a gazebo in the center of the green. There is a small parking lot for the park off Centre Street.

Or take 195 west to Exit 6 (East Providence). Go right at end of ramp onto Broadway and go 1.4 miles to the intersection of Roger Williams Avenue/Centre Street and North Broadway. Freedom Green Park is on the right. There is a gazebo in the center of the green. There is a small parking lot for the park off Centre Street.

ADA Accessible Boat Launch? no

Shoreline: Stone stairs leading to bare soil shoreline

Float/Dock: no

Approximate Length of Carry between Car Access and Water: 300 feet

Hours of Operation: Sunrise to sunset, year-round

Parking: parking lot, 4 spaces, no overnight parking

ADA Accessible Parking Spaces? yes

Water 'Features' At Site: flatwater/slow moving river, pond

Note: Because one boat launch can access, say, both a lake and a river or both the upstream and downstream portions of a river, not all paddling trips at a given site will necessarily encounter all of the features listed.

Comments & Overview:The put in is at the north end of the park -- follow the path past the gazebo to stone steps leading down to the river. This river is an suburban jewel; it provides a wilderness experience right in your back yard. The current is mild and there are no rapids. The river has many twist and turns, and coves to explore. Going upstream is an easy paddle of one and a half miles. In the beginning of the paddle you see a few houses on the right, while the left bank is wooded, hiding a golf course. When you come out to the green grass of the fairways keep an eye out for flying golf balls.

The river is dynamic and always changing, blow downs are common. The many twist and turns of the river give you a chance to sneak up on a wide variety of wildlife including large snapping turtles, black crown night heron, blue heron, and deer. Your trip ends at Hunt's Mill. Take out is on the right ("river left") past the island. Here you will find the historic 1750 Hunt House, with well manicured lawn, picnic groves and trails.

Going downstream from the put in at Freedom Green it is a one mile paddle to Omega Pond and Dam. Houses line the right shore of the river and pond, with the left side wooded except for some industrial building near the end of the pond. Freedom Green is the only public access to Omega Pond, but there are plans to provide more public access directly to the pond.

This put-in is on the new Roger Williams Trail that traces the route Roger Williams and his followers took in 1636 when they paddled by canoe from what is now East Providence to Providence, to settle and found what would become the state of Rhode Island.

For more details see the full site report