EXETER – The first clue that something once existed deep in the woods here is a towering, rusted water tank shrouded by the trees that have grown up around it. Other evidence includes concrete foundations, a tall stone chimney and several dilapidated, rotted-wood cabins.
The decaying structures are the last vestiges of a long-abandoned summer youth camp built in the 1930s for disadvantaged children.
Walking among the remains, it’s not hard to envision a noisy and lively camp filled with city kids and counselors enjoying campfires, sing-alongs, arts and crafts, swimming and hiking.
Now it’s ghostly quiet and a bit eerie.
As I rested among the ruins, I thought about the camp and how, at one time, government officials worked together with nonprofit groups and volunteers to get big things done, such as putting the jobless to work building a summer destination for city kids.
Those days seem so far off.
Meandering through quiet woods with babbling brooks
I set out on a solo hike for the abandoned youth camp from a small lot near an old concrete dam and crumbling, 16-step fish ladder at the southeast corner of Breakheart Pond in the Arcadia Management Area, the 14,000-acre preserve that is managed by the Rhode Island Department of Environmental Management.
My walk began by a closed iron gate painted red, and I headed north on the Hicks Trail, with the pond visible through breaks in the underbrush and trees on my right.
The old road, lined with cinnamon ferns, passed a dried-up wetland on the left and ran through a pine grove, scented with refreshing pine needles.
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After about three-quarters of a mile, the lane intersected with the Newman Trail, and I decided to turn right to inspect a wooden bridge over Breakheart Brook, which feeds the pond from the north. When I hiked here on a different trail from the east in April, the bridge was underwater and impassible because of beaver activity and heavy spring rains. Now, it was bone dry, and I noted erosion and exposed stones on the banks from the water that rushed downstream from the bridge. On the other side of the brook, I spotted two dads with their sons out for a walk in the woods.
I decided to turn back up the Newman Trail to look for the youth camp and took a right on the yellow-blazed Breakheart Trail that ran northwest, with the brook meandering through the brush on my right. The trail started out flat before a long, slow climb on a path that at times was rooted and rocky as it crossed stone and timber water breaks built to direct runoff from the trail and prevent washouts. At a trail intersection, there was a log bench.
As I continued west on the yellow-blazed trail, the path climbed and crossed Matteson Plain Road through an area with quite a few downed trees.
The woods turned quiet, with only a few tweets from songbirds in the bushes and the whoosh of a breeze blowing through the tops of oak and pine trees. I paused to study the leaves of beech trees that had been tainted with a leaf disease that is killing the smooth, gray-bark trees across the region.
Two hikers approached me from the opposite direction and offered smiles and a “good morning” as they passed.
The trail then descended a ridgeline to the sturdy, well-built Russell Whitney Bridge over Acid Factory Brook, which flows south into the Flat River and later joins the Wood River.
Acid Factory Brook was named for an acetic acid factory run by Bela Clapp from 1866 to 1883 that was upstream in West Greenwich. The mill distilled acetic acid from oak, ash and other hardwood trees and sold it to textile factories to make dyes.
On the far side of the bridge, I noted “No Trespassing” signs on the right that also read “U.R.I. Research Area W. Alton Jones Campus.”
The footpath crossed Philips Brook through a carpet of ferns and tall grass before entering a lovely forest of beech, oak and pine trees.
Two trail runners passed me.
Scouts left their mark on bridges
I crossed some wetlands, which must flood after heavy rains, on three wood-slat bridges built or rebuilt by Eagle Scouts and Appalachian Mountain Club volunteers.
One had “In Memory of Paul J. Ryan Troop 9 -BS 2010” carved into a slat. Another was engraved with the 12 principles of the Scout Law: Trustworthy, Loyal, Helpful, Friendly, Courteous, Kind, Obedient, Cheery, Thrifty, Brave, Clean and Reverent.
Between the bridges, pairs of logs crossed muddy sections that were rutted from mountain bike tires.
From the yellow-blazed trail, I took a left and walked south on the white-blazed Shelter Trail, with a large swamp on the left.
I passed stone walls and the Penny Hill Cutoff on the right, which leads back to the Breakheart Trail. Penny Hill, at 370 feet, is one of the highest points in the Arcadia Management Area. But because the trees have filled in, there’s not much to see from the top, so I continued on the white-blazed trail to a junction.
First glimpses of the ruined camp
To the right, a road leads to Austin Farm Road. But I went left on a road up a hillside and soon spotted the water tank I mentioned earlier, almost hidden in the woods on the right. It was the first sign of the old youth camp, called Beach Pond Camp.
A ladder ran up the side of the rusted tank, and four 5-foot concrete pillars surrounded its base, perhaps to prevent damage to the metal legs that supported the tank. Just below the tank on the high ground is a wooden structure that may have been a pump house. Inside, I inspected a concrete-lined cellar with a ladder leading down to a crank and pipes.
I walked south and saw an overgrown, 20-foot stone chimney but no foundation. Perhaps it was a recreation or dining hall. Nearby is a raised concrete foundation with stone steps, perhaps a kitchen or wash house. Deep in the ground, I also spotted curious rectangular, concrete-lined chambers with latches, which may have been storage holes.
Old maps also show an infirmary, camp office and garage. In the surrounding area, deteriorated wooden cabins have collapsed, leaving piles of moss-covered rotting roofs, timbers and planks.
Who built Beach Pond Camp?
The youth camp was a joint project of the federal and state governments and charitable groups and was organized by the National Park Service, which operated the Recreational Demonstration Area program in the mid-1930s. The mission was to create recreational areas near population centers on underutilized rural and agricultural land to give people in the cities a “fresh-air” experience and mitigate health and social problems during the Depression.
The RDA projects were built by workers in the Civilian Conservation Corps and Works Progress Administration, two Depression-era programs started by President Franklin Roosevelt to put unemployed young men to work building public works projects and improving wooded areas with roads, shelters and picnic areas. One of the seven CCC camps in Rhode Island was just to the west of the area off Escoheag Road near Beach Pond.
By 1936, 46 RDA projects were planned in 24 states. Beach Pond RDA was the only project in Southern New England.
The Beach Pond Camp was operated by the nonprofit Rhode Island Camps Inc. and opened in the spring of 1938. The land, located in an area called Lewis City in Exeter, was leased from the state.
Initially, the camp was planned to accommodate 96 campers and 22 staffers.
According to “Rhode Island Civilian Conservation Camps,” a book written by Martin Podskoch, however, the camp hosted 280 campers in 1938 and 600 in 1939.
The camp was rented to schools, churches, nonprofit organizations, economically disadvantaged groups and advocates for people with disabilities. A consortium led by the Community Chest, the predecessor of the United Way, reviewed applications and filled slots at the camp.
According to a promotional flyer for Beach Pond Camp provided to Podskoch by Albert Klyberg, the late DEM ranger and historian, the eight-week camp invited boys age 7 to 14 and girls age 7 to 12 for two-week stays in separate divisions.
The camp apparently closed in the 1970s, but I couldn’t find out any more details or why it shut down. If you know, send me an email.
After a rest while thinking about all that history, I took some side paths to clusters of skeletons of deteriorated wooden cabins that have collapsed, leaving piles of moss-covered rotting roofs, timbers and planks. When I poked my head into the decaying cabins, it felt a bit spooky.
South of the cabins, I also found a depression in the woods that was once a swimming hole. Plans initially called for damming the Flat River to create a small pond, but that was dropped in favor of digging a diversion channel from the river, with slats to control the flow of the water.
After spending about a half-hour studying the remains, I continued on the white-blazed Shelter Trail and reached the hard-packed Austin Farm Road, turned east, crossed the Flat River and headed back to where I'd started.
In all, I walked 6 miles over three hours.
Whenever I hike in the woods, I try to slow down and look to the left and right. I’m always amazed at what I find just off the trails – such as an abandoned youth camp that recalls a time when we worked together on big, creative projects to help all of us enjoy the benefits of a beautiful forest.
My walk reminded me of how we lived years ago, and who we were.
If you go…
Access: Off Route 3, drive west on Route 165 for 2.5 miles. Turn right onto Frosty Hollow Road to Breakheart Pond and a parking lot on the right.
Parking: Available for several cars.
Dogs: Allowed but must be leashed.
Difficulty: Easy to moderate on flat, well-marked trails, with some ridges and small hills.
GPS Coordinates: 41.59601, -71.70381
John Kostrzewa’s book, “Walking Rhode Island: 40 Hikes for Nature and History Lovers with Pictures, GPS Coordinates and Trail Maps,” is available at local booksellers, retailers and at Amazon.com. The Walking Rhode Island column runs every other week in the Providence Sunday Journal. Kostrzewa, a former assistant managing editor/business at The Journal, welcomes email at johnekostrzewa@gmail.com.
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