Pawtucket Boat Launch

eBird Hotspot

Providence County

Pawtucket Boat Launch
Coordinates: 41.8683704, -71.379472
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Birding in Rhode Island

About Pawtucket Boat Launch
This town-owned boat ramp provides access to the Seekonk River just below where the Blackstone River becomes tidal and becomes the Seekonk. The boat ramp is almost under the Division Street Bridge. Parking is not permitted in the very small area the head of the boat ramp but there is a good-sized parking lot across the street from the boat ramp and there is other parking in the area as well.

For the first half mile below this access site, the Seekonk River is relatively narrow, but it then opens up into a broad tidal estuary between East Providence and Providence that extends south for 3 miles to the narrows where the Seekonk flows into the Providence River at India Point. The convoluted shoreline of the estuary provides some good potential for exploration in a small boat as long as you pay attention to the wind and tides. The tide runs hard through the narrows at India Point, and it is a complex current that does not always flow in the direction you would expect given the state of the tide. However, there are 3 miles of river to explore between Pawtucket and the narrows so it is easy to stay clear of the narrows and still do quite a bit of paddling.
From Pawtucket Boat Launch webpage