The Dr John Champlin Glacier Park in Westerly Rhode Island is a small nature preserve with a 2.5 mile loop and smaller trails meandering through woodland with Glacial Erratic rocks and features from the ice age. It has 2 beautiful vernal pools, signs of a quarry from the past and a viewpoint that can you can see Block Island and the Long Island Sound from.

In Depth Guide

The Glacier Park was donated to the Westerly Land Trust in 2004. It comprises about 5 miles of trails and is named after Dr Champlin who was a famous doctor and businessman in the area who died in the 1950s. His estate were finally responsible for donating the land to The Westerly Land Trust.

Blue, Red and Green Trail

The preserve has a network of trails but if you combine most of the Blue and Green trail you create a loop that’s around 2.5 miles from the car park and back. There is also a red trail that goes out into the center of the preserve.

Vernal Pools

There are a number of vernal pools and two large and very pretty ponds in the center of the park. These are a haven for wildlife.

One of the ponds has a bench and a resting place with a poem dedicated to Voss Hutton by it.

In the south west corner of the blue trail near Shore Road you get the chance to catch glimpses of the Long Island Sound and on a good day you can see Block Island.

Meandering through the Boulders

Much of the preserve is littered with boulders known as ‘erratics’ that were brought there during the ice age about 20,000 years ago. Pushed along by a huge glacier ( hence the name of the park) these boulders were left scattered across New England as the Glacier melted and receded.

As well as the effect the glacier had on the landscape you can also see where early settlers piled up many of the smaller rocks to make stone walls which cross cross the preserve too.

The preserve is also very near the airport so you will often find aircraft taking off and landing a lot at the weekends.

Old Quarry

A section in the south west corner of the preserve on the blue trail shows signs of a quarry in the past. If you look closely at many of the rocks they are unnaturally square and show signs of being worked and split with tools.

Verdict

With easy parking on shore road and its proximity to Charlestown and Westerly this nature preserve has easy trails to walk on (with only a few places where you have to watch your footing on rocks). Although we visited it in early May I can imagine that the sea breeze means this preserve isn’t plagued by flies as much although you will still need to take care to prevent ticks.

The trail is also nearby the famous North South Trail and in particular the Buckeye Boulders area which are well worth a visit too.

Parking

There is enough space for about 5 to 8 cars to park easily by the side of Shore Road.