Pawcatuck River Overnight/Bastille Day Campout - July 12-13, 2025

The Mohawk is loaded up

Saturday started with a RICKA Flatwater training at Stump Pond, and ended with our annual Bastille Day Campout at the Burlingame Canoe Campsites on the on the Pawcatuck River. It was a good weekend.

Back in the old days, RICKA held an annual summer camping trip – the Bastille Day Campout. Bastille Day is a national holiday in France that celebrates the Storming of the Bastille on July 14, 1789. Why Bastille Day was chosen as a theme for a RICKA camping trip has been lost to history. The connection to summer is obvious, and maybe it was a simple as that.

Setting up camp

The event was originally held on Dutch Island. When the DEM prohibited camping on Dutch Island in 1991, it moved to the Burlingame Canoe Campsites on the Pawcatuck. It was celebrated with an assortment of French and French-Canadian delicacies – mostly wine and beer. A Molson toast around the fire was always the highlight of an evening filled with good food and good friends.

Reviving this RICKA tradition seemed like a worthy challenge, so for the past few years we have been organizing a summer overnight trip at the Burlingame Canoe Campsites. This year, we met at the Bradford Landing at 2:30 to load up our boats. The group included JD, Chuck, Danny, Dan, Bill, Tim, Reuben and me.

Steak Frites on the fire

The weather was beautiful as we headed out – partly cloud and in the 80’s with a light wind. It would drop into the 60’s in the evening, but no rain. We arrived and found the field campsite empty, so we hauled our gear up and set up camp. We started the dinner fire, then cooled off taking turns on the rope swing as the fire burned down to coals for cooking.

Once again, the food was plentiful - salsa and chips, charcuterie and cheese, cedar-planked brie with crusty baguettes, Italian sausage with spicy zucchini, Steak Frites (steak and fries), watermelon, carrot cake. After dinner, we settled in around the campfire for a night of tall-tales and war-stories. I finally turned in at around 10:00.

Breakfast in the Big Daddy skillet

Before I knew it, morning light was streaming through my tent. I got up around 6:00, started the fire and got the coffee perking. Dan was up shortly after, so we started on breakfast. I fired up my Dutch oven to make a batch of cinnamon rolls, and Dan fired up his 20” Big Daddy skillet to cook everything else - bacon, sausage, home fries and eggs. No one ever goes hungry on these trips.

After breakfast we packed for the trip back to Bradford. I was on the road by 10:00, and I was home by 11:00. We will definitely put the Bastille Day Campout on the RICKA calendar again next year.

The annual Molson toast

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Video from the Rope Swing

The Bastille Day Campout - June 28-29, 2024

Home for the night

I was busy with work this spring, so I missed the spring camping trip with my usual camping buddies. Bill and I did try to get some interest going for a late spring trip on the Connecticut River, but everyone was busy. Rather than skipping camping completely, we decided on an old favorite – an overnight at the Burlingame Canoe Campsites on the Pawcatuck River.

Back in the old days, RICKA held an annual summer camping trip – the Bastille Day Campout. Bastille Day is a national holiday in France that celebrates the Storming of the Bastille on July 14, 1789. Why Bastille Day was chosen as a theme for a RICKA camping trip has been lost to history. The connection to summer is obvious, and maybe it was a simple as that. 

Campfire Paella for dinner

The event was originally held on Dutch Island. When the DEM prohibited camping on Dutch Island in 1991, it moved to the Burlingame Canoe Campsites on the Pawcatuck. It was celebrated with an assortment of French and French-Canadian delicacies – mostly wine and beer. A Molson toast around the fire was always the highlight of an evening filled with good food and good friends.

Reviving this RICKA tradition seemed like a worthy challenge, so Bill and I posted a trip on the flatwater message board, and we ended up with a group of six. We met at the Bradford Landing at 2:00 to load up our boats and paddle up to the campsites. There was one small complication - a large group celebrating a bachelor party had already set up camp at the Burlingame sites. Rather than intrude or put up with the noise, we decided to check out the bootleg sites along the river.  

The Molson toast around the fire

Danny and Bill headed out first, and checked out a site not far from the put-in. It was nice, but a little closed in, so we decided to check out some of the sites further upstream. Aaron suggested a site on river right just past the Burlingame sites. It had plenty of room for boats, a nice fire pit for cooking, and a great view of the river - the decision was made.

We hauled our gear up from the river and set up camp. Once camp was up, Aaron went out for a paddle, and the rest of us took a break to enjoy a few cocktails. Before long it was time to light the fire and cook dinner - campfire paella. After dinner, Dan, Aaron and I took a moonlight paddle up to the Burdickville Dam. Then we settled in around the campfire for the night. After many tall-tales and war-stories we finally turned in at around 10:00. 

Dan cooks breakfast

Before I knew it, morning light was streaming through my tent. I got up around 6:00, started the fire and got the coffee perking. Dan was up shortly after, so we started on breakfast. I fired up my Dutch oven to make a batch of cinnamon rolls, and Dan fired up his 20” Big Daddy skillet to cook everything else - bacon, home fries and eggs. No one ever goes hungry on these trips.

After breakfast we packed up camp for the trip back to Bradford. The sky was cloudy, and we even got a few drops of rain. Once there, we packed up the cars and said our goodbyes after another great tip. We will definitely have to put the Bastille Day Campout on the RICKA calendar next year.

Packed up and ready to go

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Aaron's Video on YouTube

Burlingame Canoe Campsites from Rhode Island Blueways
Bradford Landing from Rhode Island Blueways

Pawcatuck River Overnight - June 3-4, 2023

Burlingame Canoe Campsites

What's not to like about canoe camping? You paddle in, set up camp, have dinner, and then settle in for a relaxing evening around the campfire. I did my first canoe camping trip with the RICKA Wilderness Group in 2012, and I’ve been hooked ever since. This time we would be doing an overnight trip at the Burlingame Canoe Campsites on the Pawcatuck River.

We are fortunate to have a several very nice campsites on the Pawcatuck. There is Stoney Point on Worden Pond, the Carolina Canoe Campsite just upstream from the Richmond Landing, the "bootleg" site at the confluence of the Wood River, and of course, the Burlingame Canoe Campsites in the Burlingame Management Area. At Burlingame there is a large open field suitable for groups, and five smaller wooded sites. All these sites are available on a first come first serve basis, and can get crowded in the warm summer months.

The camp is set up

The weather forecast was mixed with rain Saturday morning, and again on Sunday afternoon. It was raining as I drove down I-95, but stopped by the time I met the group at the Bradford Landing. We loaded the boats and set out for the 3-mile trip up to Burlingame.

When we arrived at Burlingame, we were surprised to find a group already set up in the field. We scouted out the wooded sites and decided to take the third site down – one site down from where we camped last spring, and one site up from the grassy site where we camped in 2014. We hauled our gear up the steep hill from the river and began to set up camp.

Enjoying the evening fire

The first thing up was the rain fly – fortunately we never needed it – followed by the kitchen and then the tents. I pitched my tent in the grassy site, which is now over-grown appears rarely used. I decided to try out my new Alps Mountaineering Lynx one-man tent.

After setting up camp we took a break to enjoy cocktails before cooking dinner. Dinner was hamburgers and hot dogs with garden and macaroni salad. The wind picked up after dinner, but we never got any rain. We settled in around the fire for watermelon, and a relaxing evening.

Dan cooks breakfast in the 20" skillet

After many tall-tales and war-stories we finally turned in for the night at around 10:30. My one-man tent was tight, but it was still comfortable. It will work well for sea kayak camping in the Capella. 

Before I knew it, morning light was streaming through my tent. I got up around 6:00, and found that Danny was already up enjoying coffee. I got my coffee pot perking.

Heading back to Bradford

Dan was up shortly after and got the fire started. He would be cooking breakfast in his 20" Camp Chef Lumberjack Maine-guide skillet. After pulling out some coals he cooked our entire breakfast in this pan – bacon, home fries, grilled English muffins, omelets and fried eggs. He was able to set up different heat zones for cooking and keeping things warm - pretty cool.

He had blue sky and puffy clouds in the morning, so we took our time enjoying breakfast around the fire. After breakfast we packed up camp for the trip back to Bradford Landing. Storm clouds were rolling in as we loaded up the cars and said our goodbyes, and the rain started up again as I drove home on I-95. The rain gods had smiled on us - we timed it perfect!

The crew at Bradford Landing

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