Ninigret Pond - August 10, 2020

Bob waits at the put in

My options for yesterday were a whitewater run on the Deerfield (too late and too far), a solo bike shuttle on the Pawcatuck (check out the campsites from Alton to Bradford), or the RICKA trip at Ninigret. I went for the RICKA trip.  

Ninigret Pond is the largest of Rhode Island’s South County salt ponds, which includes Point Judith, Green Hill, Quonochontaug and Winnapaug Ponds. Ningret was formed by the retreating glaciers 12,000 years ago, and is separated from the ocean by the fragile barrier island that forms East Beach. It is connected to Green Hill Pond by a small tidal inlet.

Terry checks out the cormorants

With fertile farmland and rich fishing grounds, the land around Ninigret attracted Native Americans for thousands of years. In fact, the pond itself is named for Ninigret, a 17th-century sachem of the Narragansett tribe. They grew corn, beans, and squash and supplemented their diet by fishing and hunting. 

The area around Ninigret remained agricultural until the 1940s when the Navy built the Naval Auxiliary Air Station Charlestown – a satellite airfield to the nearby Quonset Naval Air Station. It had three runways, numerous hangers and was used for testing and training. In 1974 the base was decommissioned along with Quonset Point

Taking a break at East Beach

After it was closed, large sections of the old Charlestown Naval Air Station were designated as the Ninigret National Wildlife Refuge. The refuge is characterized by salt marshes, kettle ponds and freshwater wetlands and is inhabited by hundreds of species of birds. 

We put in at the boat launch at Ninigret Park and paddled west along the northern shore before crossing over to the barrier island. We hiked across the barrier island for lunch and a quick swim at the beach before heading back. We did try to head over to the Charlestown Breachway, but decided at low tide that it wasn’t worth the effort. That is a trip for another day.

That's me - picture by Pat

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