Narragansett Bay has somewhere between 30 and 40 islands (depending on who’s doing the counting). But if you’re like most Rhode Islanders, you’ve probably only set foot on a handful.
Aquidneck Island is practically a given, since it’s home to Newport, Middletown and Portsmouth. So is Conanicut Island, where you’ll find Jamestown.
But there are dozens of other islands full of rich history and extraordinary natural beauty lurking in the bay — some within easy hailing of land or visible with a sideways glance as you cross the Jamestown or Newport bridges, yet rarely visited except by the occasional boater.
“It’s sort of the final frontier of Rhode Island,” says Dave Gracer, who with local sailor Trip Wolfskehl successfully completed a quest to visit every island in the bay in the summer of 2013.
“These beautiful places are mostly uninhabited and undeveloped,” adds Eric Pfirrmann, who captains tour boats for Save The Bay and has visited many of the bay islands. “It’s rare in such a densely populated area to have places that are still so wild.”
Gracer, Wolfskehl and Pfirrmann are quick to tell you that not every island is worth a stop. Some of Narragansett Bay’s “islands” are little more than guano-splattered rocks; others are so thick with poison ivy and infested with ticks that a quick hop on and off the beach is probably all you’d want to attempt.
The islands that follow are among the not-quite-hidden gems of Narragansett Bay.
Prudence Island:The third-largest island in Narragansett Bay is connected to the mainland via ferry from Bristol. The population of this 7-mile-long, 2-mile-wide island swells from about 75 in winter to a few thousand in summer, but the vast majority of Prudence Island is preserved parkland, so it never really feels crowded.
“There have probably been more houses built out there in the last 15 years than in the previous 150,” says Pfirrmann. “If there was a bridge to Prudence Island it would have been fully developed. But it’s still a place that is fairly remote.”
Most activity is confined to the south end of the island, where the ferry dock, Prudence Island lighthouse and a single small store are located. The Narragansett Bay National Estuarine Research Reserve, a state-federal marine research and protection site that includes Prudence, Patience, Hope and Dyer islands, is also headquartered here and has a small welcome center, where you can learn more about the bay and get information on the island’s 13.5 miles of walking trails. “There’s amazing hiking at the north end of the island,” says Pfirrmann. Prudence Island also has some interesting Revolutionary War history, and several historic homes.
Patience Island:One of several islands said to have been acquired by Roger Williams from the Narragansetts, this 200-acre isle off the northwest shore of Prudence Island is thick with vegetation and uninhabited. The British burned the island’s settlement during the Revolutionary War, but a farm operated on the island until the early 20th century. Some remnants of human habitation remain, but the threat of ticks and poison ivy discourages visitors from venturing off the beach. “We sailed in at sunset and the water was like glass,” recalls Glacer. “That kind of stillness is sacred.”
Hog Island:Located at the entrance to Bristol Harbor, this 190-acre island is easily spied thanks to the presence of the 60-foot Hog Island Shoal Light off its southern tip. The island is privately owned and has more than 150 summer homes — but it’s only accessible by boat, shuts down in winter and has no electricity. The best way to visit is via invitation from a resident, although you can also land a small boat on the beach. “Like everywhere in Rhode Island, anything below the mean high tide line is public property,” notes Pfirrmann.
Dyer Island:A low-lying 30-acre island off the west coast of Portsmouth, Dyer Island is mostly undisturbed salt marshes, offering habitat for nesting shorebirds like terns, egrets and herons. You can anchor and wade ashore, but may only visit outside of nesting season, which runs from April to August.
Hope Island:Like Dyer Island, this 91-acre island is part of the Narragansett Bay National Estuarine Research Reserve. Once farmed, and later used as a Navy ammunition depot, the island is now completely overgrown and “next to impossible to get into,” Pfirrmann says. There is a small protected cove and beach on the southern end, but the island is closed to visitors during bird nesting season. Nearby Despair Island, the last of the four bay islands named by Roger Williams (Prudence, Patience, Hope and Despair), is about an acre of rock barely rising above water level and known primarily as a notorious hazard to navigation in the bay.
Fox Island:Visible from the Jamestown Bridge and located between Jamestown and Wickford village in North Kingstown, this small island has a single home, a prominent wind turbine, a long dock, and its own sandy spit of beach. Largely covered by a manicured lawn, it would be far more accessible than many of the other bay islands except that it’s private property. An itinerant preacher and a National Book Award–winning author are among the past residents of the island, which is now owned by a tight-lipped corporation.
Gould Island:One of two islands in Narragansett Bay named Gould, this 55-acre island in the middle of the East Passage has had a colorful history far out of proportion to its size. The island’s strategic location was recognized as early as the Revolutionary War, when the British navy built a small fort here. Later, the island was privately owned and had a cottage designed by famed architects McKim, Mead and White, and for a time served as a training ground for the Harvard University football team.
The island returned to military use when the Navy leased it and built a seaplane base on the south end and a torpedo testing facility on the north end.
The Navy still utilizes part of the island for underwater warfare testing, but the rest is owned by the state, and the military has been busy in recent years cleaning up toxic waste, clearing old roads and demolishing dangerous ruins. “They’d like to make it a much more accessible place,” says Pfirrmann, perhaps as part of a long-discussed bay islands park system similar to the state-federal park in Boston Harbor. A chain-link fence spanning Gould Island keeps visitors away from the active Navy facility, but visitors can explore the old buildings and beaches on the south end.
The “other” Gould Island, also known as Snake Island, is located in the Sakonnet River and was once used as a picnic area for guests at the Island Park amusem*nt park in Riverside. It’s now protected as a bird sanctuary by the Audubon Society of Rhode Island.
Rose Island:A stop on the seasonal Jamestown-Newport ferry route, Rose Island is well known for its lighthouse, built in 1870 and normally open for tours and overnight stays (temporarily suspended due to COVID-19). Less recognized are the ruins of the abortive Fort Hamilton, an unfinished fort from the turn of the 18th century. Though the walls of the fort were never raised, visitors can still see the stone barracks, one of two circular gun emplacements later used to store explosives (the other serves as the foundation for the lighthouse), and a recently uncovered rail system used to move ammunition around the island. The island is maintained by the Rose Island Lighthouse & Fort Hamilton Trust.
Dutch Island:Known as Quotenis by the Narragansetts, the current name dates to around 1636 when the Dutch West India Company established a fur-trading post on the island. The first Dutch Island Light was built in 1827 (the current lighthouse dates to 1857), and between the Civil War and World War II the island was known as Fort Greble.
The U.S. Army used the 102-acre island to train African-American artillery regiments during the Civil War, and the fort was expanded with the addition of huge coastal guns during the Spanish-American War. German prisoners of war were housed in the fort during World War II. The Dutch Island Management Area now protects local wildlife on the island.
“There’s a real Temple of Doom vibe on Dutch Island, with old World War II buildings being swallowed by vines,” says Gracer. Kayakers can paddle to Dutch Island from Dutch Harbor in Jamestown, although in recent years the military has worked to close off some of the more dangerous bunkers and cisterns on the island.
“You can get out and walk around — the island has a lot of ruins, which is very cool,” says Wolfskehl. Adds Pfirrmann, “It’s a spot that could be turned into something incredible.”
Spar Island:Dredged sand created this two-acre island in Mount Hope Bay. It’s often covered at high tide, but when it’s visible it’s “the most Caribbean bit of land we have in Narragansett Bay, because the water is so clear and it has a big sandy beach,” says Wolfskehl. “It feels really remote, even though it’s in the middle of Mount Hope Bay.”
East Island and West Island:East Island off the tip of Sakonnet Point has nothing more than “a lot of angry birds,” according to Gracer. But the West Island Club once made its larger sister island a magnet for wealthy anglers in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. A combination of arson and the 1938 hurricane destroyed the club, but visitors can still see stone columns and the foundation of the old building. The island can be reached by kayak or boat from Sakonnet Harbor.
