Powder Mill Ledges Wildlife Refuge — Attraction in Smithfield

This is a beautiful area to visit for appreciating nature. There are 3 trails (that I know of) which cover varying areas of the entire refuge, and offer choices in how much you want to explore/what level of exercise you're up for. It's a great spot for an experienced nature enthusiast to explore, but it's also a great area for families with younger children (although I don't believe they allow dogs.) It is DEFINITELY not stroller friendly, so everyone who walks it needs to be ready to be on their feet and cover some rugged terrain. The trails are roughly marked to keep you on them, however beyond that, you're walking in the woods, not on a paved path. The great thing is for people who are looking for more rugged terrain, more mountainous areas (like in Acadia in Maine) this is one of the closest areas you can get in RI. There is a significant part of the trails further into the refuge which do cross over some large power lines. This can be disconcerting if you're afraid of being near large industrial power lines. However it's also a nice reminder that as secluded and wild an area as it is, you're very unlikely to get lost in the woods and reenact the Blair Witch Project (the offices do have a guest book they encourage you to enter your details into for safety purposes, however I don't believe it's a requirement to explore...

We're spending the summer visiting all of the Audubon spots in RI so at this point it's easier to tell the good from the bad and everything in between. The first trail and a little beyond are nice beautiful lush forests with lots of green and high trees. We didn't like the rest of it as much. It's not horrible by any means but you bump into a massive row of high-tension wires and over all, you're never too far removed from the real world in terms of roads or structures. The biggest drawback we saw was that the map signs posted along the route unfortunately, despite having a "star" symbol on the map legend to show "you are here", that symbol isn't on any of the maps. Except for one map sign where someone doodled a star in. This is even more disappointing because the Audubon headquarters are on the same grounds. Not a terrible experience but if you're looking to hike an Audubon trail, there are better ones to choose from. Watch out for ticks on all...

(3/27/2021)

short hike with some cute wildlife. Lots of screaming frogs in swamp area right by parking lot. Saw this long garter snake. And also a curious chipmunk that watched us a while.

Giving only 4 stars because:

1. theres a lot of trash. Really needs to be cleaned... the state should send people to clean it, its really not good for the wildlife. We need better environmental protection for natural areas like this. Really sad that so many people pollute.
2. powerlines run through area.
3. yellow trail runs back up this weird powerline road area but it isnt clearly marked and was confusing.

Checked for ticks after and...