Great Swamp Management Area

Great Swamp Management Area

Great Swamp Wildlife Management Area West Kingston, Rhode Island 02892

Great Swamp Wildlife Management Area webpage
Great Swamp Wildlife Management Area East map
Great Swamp Wildlife Management Area West map

Tips for Birding

While birding at Great Swamp during the breeding season in the summer can be a very rewarding experience, be prepared for a wrath of biting insects including mosquitoes, horse-flies, and ticks. Biting insects tend to be the worst from the middle of June to the end of September, especially near the impoundment.

About Great Swamp Management Area

See all hotspots at Great Swamp Management Area

Great Swamp covers a total land area of 3349 acres. Acreage is divided among the following cover types: wetlands (2262 acres), forest cover (897 acres), agricultural land (eighty-eight acres), and other lands (102 acres; brush, utilities, etc.). The area contains extensive forested freshwater wetlands, dominated by red maple swamps with some cedar swamp.

The Great Swamp Management Area contains several miles of trails that wind through fields and mixed forests and around an impoundment. The area is a good place to find passerines during spring migration. The trail that circles the impoundment travels through different habitats that attract a variety of birds. It is about a five-mile round-trip hike from the parking area.

Notable Trails

The AllTrails website has a description and map of trails at the Great Swamp Management Area.

Features

  • Restrooms on site

  • Wheelchair accessible trail

  • Entrance fee

  • Roadside viewing

Content from Great Swamp Wildlife Management Area webpage and Rhode Island Birding webpage

Last updated February 14, 2024