Block Island Attractions
Block Island Attractions
 | Abrams Animal Farm Spring and High Streets Block Island, RI • 401-466-2421 Don't know a zedonk from a zebu? You're in luck at this petting zoo full of exotic animals collected from around the world by the owner of the Hotel Manisses, Justin Abrams. Located behind the hotel in a garden-like atmosphere, the "farm" is as low-key as everything else on Block Island. So you can wander right up and pet and feed camels, or peer through fences close-up at red kangaroos, ring-tailed lemurs, a tortoise and more. Abrams is constantly adding new animals to his stables, and will gladly tell you about their history and quirks as he makes the rounds feeding in the afternoon. A zebu, by the way, is a humped breed of cattle from India that is among the oldest known. A zedonk, of course, is a cross between a zebra and a donkey. Best For: Tots (0-2)•Kids (3-6)•Kids (7-9)•Tweens (10-12) |
 | Crescent Beach Corn Neck Road Block Island, RI • 401-466-3223 When it comes to beaches, Block Island has a split personality -- much of its coast is rocky and hard to get to, situated as it is at the bottom of high bluffs. Then there is Crescent Beach, which arcs from the end of Old Harbor in a glorious two-mile expanse of sand that is easily one of the best beaches in the Northeast. Families flock to the section closest to town, nicknamed "Baby Beach" for its gentle surf and frequent tide pools crawling with fiddler crabs. Older kids gravitate to Benson Beach, a few hundred yards up (and best accessed from Corn Neck Road), where boogie board and sea kayak rentals are available. At the far end of the island, almost at its northern tip is Mansion Beach, a quiet and pristine stretch of sand far away from the crowds. Best For: Tots (0-2)•Kids (3-6)•Kids (7-9)•Tweens (10-12)•Teens (13+) |
 | Hiking Rodman's Hollow Cooneymus Road Block Island, RI • 401-331-7110 Block Island packs many opportunities for hiking into its small space; but the favorite preserve for many visitors and natives alike is the sunken meadow of Rodman's Hollow, a crazy-quilt of fields, forests and wetlands abutting the cliffs on the southwest corner of the island. The tract was the first area on Block Island preserved by the Block Island Conservancy back in the 1970s, sparking the conservation movement that followed on the island as a whole. It's now crisscrossed by miles of trails, many of which are relatively gentle and perfectly suitable for family hiking of all ages. Best For: Kids (7-9)•Tweens (10-12)•Teens (13+) |
 | Kayaking Great Salt Pond Block Island, RI • 401-466-5105 Right in the center of Block Island, the Great Salt Pond is an area readymade for kayaking, with flat water surrounded by salt marsh and estuaries perfect for bird and wildlife sightings. Pond and Beyond offer 2.5-hour tours of the scenery led by knowledgeable guides for families with children 12 and up. The organization is just as committed to getting younger kids out on the water, however, with special paddles for kids ages 6 and up on weekend mornings and Monday afternoons in summer. Best For: Kids (7-9)•Tweens (10-12)•Teens (13+) |
 | Southeast Lighthouse 122 Mohegan Trail Block Island, RI • 401-466-5009 The history of Block Island is strewn with shipwrecks and sea rescues -- the shoals surrounding the island are so dangerous, in fact, that it's estimated half of the shipwrecks in New England have occurred off its coast. In an effort to drive down that average, islanders built this picturesque red-brick lighthouse in an unusual Gothic Victorian style. Two centuries later, it was the lighthouse itself that was in danger of falling into the sea when erosion had beat back the bluffs to within just a few dozen yards of the tower. A museum inside now details the heroic effort to move the lighthouse back from the bluffs in 1993, sliding it along beams lubricated with Ivory soap. You can also climb the wrought-iron spiral stairs up into the 50-foot tower to see the working Fresnel lens that still shines its beam some 35 miles out to sea in a continuing effort to guide ships past the rocky shoals of Block. Best For: Kids (7-9)•Tweens (10-12)•Teens (13+) |
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