Pawcatuck River Overnight in RI

[eckilson]

It has become a summer tradition for my local club - our annual overnight camping trip on the Pawcatuck River. We load up big canoes with lots of wood and way too much food and gear, and head out to a riverside campsite in the Burlingame Management Area for the night. This year we had 11 campers including 3 women (we are diversifying) and a young guy interested in getting into wilderness tripping (nice to keep the tradition going). We had a little bit of rain in the afternoon, but otherwise the weather was great. I even took a turn on the rope swing.

Good time as always - few pictures here:

Pawcatuck River Overnight - June 27-28, 2026

Explore this photo album by Erik Eckilson on Flickr!

www.flickr.com

 

[snapper]

Thanks for sharing this annual trip. I have a friend who lives in E. Providence and we're looking for an overnight to do later this summer. He is one year out from quintuple by-pass and I know his wife is concerned; although he's been doing more and more lately. While I live in central NYS, my daughter lives in Bristol so I can crash there the night before a trip. If you could point me to any info that would help me plan this, I'd appreciate it; as well as any insights you may have.

That's all for now. Take care and until next time...be well.

snapper

 

[riverstrider]

Hi Snapper,

the Exploreri.org website has a map that covers this particular trip. Pawcatuck River Map The access we used for this trip is at the DEM Bradford Fishing Access, at the red star number 7. You can head upstream (to your right as you face the river from the access) and paddle about 3-3.5 miles to the campsite we used. There is a sign there that says "Burlingame Management Area Canoe Camping" (Erik has a picture of it in his link). But there are multiple first-come first-served campsites along that stretch that you could use if you don't want to paddle that far. It is entirely flatwater, usually not flowing strong except in the spring. There are no facilities at any of the campsites, other than a fire ring, so everything is carry in, carry out. Beautiful area, usually all you hear are wildlife, planes, and occasionally the Amtrak trains. We unfortunately had an unruly group next to us this time that was up late, but that is the exception. Usually there is no one else but us.

At any rate, I would call this trip the easiest, most accessible cane camping trip option in the entire state. Another option would be to camp on Stony Point on Worden Pond (requiring just a short paddle across the pond to it) but the pond can get very unruly in a strong wind.

I hope you and your friend manage to get out for a good overnight!

-rs