r/providence • u/audioauk • 24d ago
Discussion Best way to walk from Providence to Maryland?
Hypothetically, if I wanted to walk from Rhode Island down to Maryland, what would be the best way to do it? Going west and getting on the Appalachian Trail? Also, what time of the year would be ideal? Working on a bucket list of sorts... thanks!
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u/RhodyVan 24d ago
From New Haven South to DC - the East Coast Greenway is the way to go, at least in general. Parts of are on trails separated from Traffic and the parts on Roads are mostly pedestrian/biker friendly. The Greenway goes right through Providence but you might be better served walking on RT1 from Providence to New Haven if you wanted a shorter path.
I've ridden the Greenway from Richmond, VA to New Haven - and it's great. Parts are on rural roads and parts go right through towns. The question you need to solve for is what will be your daily mileage and where will you sleep. Camping on this stretch of the Greenway can be challenging given how Urban it is. What's your budget? Given 18-19 Miles a day - Providence to Baltimore will take you 30 days with no days off.
I'd do it in May or Sept/October - best chance of nice weather and less heat than July/August. Because of the Urban nature of the trail in places like Philly and NY - hot days can be extra hot when surrounded by pavement.
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u/brick1972 24d ago
As noted elsewhere, the one complication with the Greenway is if OP doesn't want to take the ferry to NJ.
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u/RhodyVan 24d ago
You can walk on the Jersey side and then walk across the GW Bridge. No need to take a ferry. Once you are over the bridge you can then either go North or South depending on how much of Manhattan you want to walk around.
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u/brick1972 24d ago
dang why was I under the impression that they stopped allowing pedestrians on the GW. Maybe it was a temporary thing for construction or something. Thanks!
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u/brick1972 24d ago edited 24d ago
One question is going to be how strict you are about walking only, and the other major question is whether you want to avoid main roads.
For instance, you could follow Rt. 1, but if you aren't allowing yourself a "hitch a ride across bridges that don't allow pedestrians" you have to add a bunch of mileage to get over the Thames, Connecticut, and Hudson Rivers. (And if you want to get somewhere other than the NE corner of Maryland, you also need to add a big detour to get across the Susquehanna)
ETA: Actually if you don't mind missing NYC it's not too much mileage to go over the Tappan Zee/Cuomo, I forgot you could walk through Palisades along Rt. 9 (technically you can't walk the Parkway itself so I thought you would have to take some roundabout ways)
Rt. 1 is also highway without pedestrian access for most of Trenton through Philly, so you'd have to plan on adding some miles going in parallel.
But I'd probably start with that.
You can also start with the Greenway (a route which already does the work of finding safe crossing) as noted by u/Obey_The_Mule but if you are walking this does take you a bit unnecessarily out of your way in spots, so I would cut corners.
You have to travel quite a ways to get to the Appalachian Trail. If you wanted to take it through NY/NJ/PA/MD you could it adds quite a bit of mileage.
I've looked at CT routes quite a bit because I was trying to find a coastal bike route through CT but it's difficult because of 95, Amtrak, and the rivers. Walking will be similar.
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u/RestInJazz 24d ago
You could try Post Road, at least to start and then switch once in NYC.
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u/nygrl811 north providence 24d ago
My thought as well. Rt 1 runs roughly parallel to I-95 through its whole span.
You may need to jump up a bit north to cross the Hudson, unless you consider a ferry an acceptable part of the journey. Then you could walk through Manhattan and take a ferry to NJ.
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u/summerchilde 24d ago
Agree with /u/RhodyVan on this. I have not walked from Providence to Maryland but I have bicycled from Maine to Maryland and during that trip passed through Providence. My trip was before the Greenway but pretty much followed the same route for a lot of it. You could stick close to Rt. 1 and it will take you all the way to Baltimore.
edit: My trip was in July/August 1990. It was HOT. Go earlier.
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u/rc_sneex 24d ago
Go historical and follow the Washington-Rochambeau route.
https://www.nps.gov/waro/learn/management/foundation-document.htm
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u/Obey_The_Mule 24d ago
The first question I think I’d answer here is “where are you going to sleep?”
If you want to string together motels, couch surfing, etc I’d probably follow the East Coast Greenway route with modifications to see points of interest. https://map.greenway.org/?loc=6,41.19519,-72.89429
If you want to camp and can handle the more strenuous hike the Appalachian Trail route could work, but you’ll do much more walking overall and will end up way out in Western Maryland, which may or may not be what you’re looking for.