Walking RI: Exploring trail-blazer 'Vin' Gormley's playground in Charlestown

CHARLESTOWN — John Vincent “Vin” Gormley spent hundreds of hours clearing, blazing and maintaining trails in the Arcadia Management Area and Burlingame State Park until he was well into his 80s.

When a trail around Watchaug Pond was renamed in his honor in 1991, Gormley said he started out as a "city slicker" but "Once I got into the woods, I was sold."

So have a lot of other hikers who followed his paths. I’m one of them.

I had first walked the Gormley Trail years ago and recently decided it was time to hike it again and share what I learned.

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A friend and I set out on the 8.5-mile loop from the Burlingame Picnic Area off Prosser Road, just above the beach on the eastern shore of Watchaug Pond. The yellow-blazed trail starts on a dirt road with houses on the left. Just ahead on the right is the Barton Hurley Boat Launch, named for the veteran and conservationist from Charlestown.

Several side spurs lead to the shore and panoramic views of the 900-acre pond.

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The trail then ducks into the woods on a well-trod footpath and enters the 29-acre Kimball Wildlife Refuge, owned by the Audubon Society of Rhode Island and a popular spot for birders.

After a bit, we crossed into the Burlingame Camping Area between the camp store and a playground. The cabins and campsites were empty but two workers were spreading mulch and gravel to get ready for another camping season.

Who was the trail's namesake, 'Vin' Gormley?

The trail cuts across the campground, passes a road to the beach on the right and then leads to a kiosk with a map and a short biography of Gormley. I learned that he had served in the Civilian Conservation Corps and worked in naval shipyards in California during World War II. He later lived in Cranston, attended St. Mark’s Church and worked for the state as a carpenter before retiring in 1989, having never missed a day of work.

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Gormley also volunteered on the Trails Committee of the Appalachian Mountain Club. He spent years on the trails around Watchaug Pond, cutting back growth, picking up trash and retracing blazes.

In September 1991, the Rhode Island House of Representatives passed a special act that renamed the yellow trail for Gormley. In an interview, he said, “Once you get out in the woods, you never forget them. It’s so peaceful.”

Gormley died in 2000 at the age of 89.

I thought about Gormley while continuing down a lovely, wooded lane under oak and maple trees, with a few holly trees mixed in, before entering a section of dense, damp forest. The blue-blazed North-South Trail, which runs 78 miles from Charlestown to Burrillville, enters from the left and merges here with the yellow-blazed trail.

After crossing several stone walls, the path’s terrain becomes swampy and covered in ferns. In the summer, insects swarm the area.

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Trail maintained by Appalachian Mountain Club volunteers

The trail here was originally cut by the Youth Conservation Corps for the Rhode Island Department of Environmental Management in 1960. Starting in the 1980s, Gormley upgraded the path by cutting diseased pine trees, loading the 12-foot sections into his trailer and hauling them to the low areas. After stripping the logs of their bark, he used them to build 600 feet of bog bridges over the wetlands.

During the following decades, some of the bridges were replaced by 4-foot-wide wooden-board walkways that meander above the lowlands. AMC volunteers gather every September in Gormley’s memory to brush the trails, and many of the bridges are now carved with “AMC” and the year they were installed.

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The trail continues through the woods and crosses the Perry Healy Brook over a small, neat, covered bridge named for Gormley. We rested on benches inside the latticed-sided bridge and listened to the clacking of the first wood frogs of the season.

After our break, we walked on the trail to Buckeye Brook Road, took a right for about a hundred yards, reentered the woods and followed the path until we reached the road again. We turned right on the road, crossed a bridge over Poquiant Brook and then walked back into the woods at a sign on the right for the yellow-blazed trail.

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A dramatic change of scenery on second half of trail

The second half of the Gormley Trail is quite different from the first half and runs far away from the pond. Starting under a beech grove, the rocky and rooted trail runs across ridges, along the base of cliffs and by sharp glacial rocks.

One section passes through a tunnel of mountain laurel while others follow old farm lanes. Small seasonal streams cross the path in places and flow downhill toward the pond, which isn’t visible from the trail. We crossed bridges over some brooks and rock-hopped over others. A couple of mini-waterfalls tumble over flat, smooth stony areas. Several side trails and roads break off the path, but the yellow blazes are easy to follow.

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At one point, after staying together for about 4 miles, the North South Trail splits off from the yellow-blazed trail and heads north. We continued east on the yellow-blazed trail and noted signs for side spurs for the School House Pond Preserve and Sammy C’s trail. The path exits the woods, crosses a road and runs uphill to Kings Factory Road. We turned right and passed some houses and a youth camp to reach Prosser Road. We followed it back to where we'd started.

In all, we hiked 8.5 miles over four hours with plenty of time to think about Gormley and the inspiration he has been to hikers of all ages.

At the ribbon cutting for the Gormley Trail, Gormley talked about the work he had put in, but added, "If I live to be 100, I won't have that trail the way it should be."

Not true, Vin. And thousands of hikers thank you for a job well done.

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Trail Tip

John Kostrzewa, author of Walking Rhode Island, and Dr. Michael Fine, former director of the Rhode Island Department of Health, will present “Walking for Health” on April 12 from 6:30 to 7:30 p.m. at the Cranston Public Library at 140 Sockanosset Cross Rd.

For more information, and to register, go to: bit.ly/3r5G8in

John Kostrzewa, a former assistant managing editor/business at The Providence Journal, welcomes email at johnekostrzewa@gmail.com.

This article originally appeared on The Providence Journal: Charlestown's Gormley Trail honors devoted conservationist