A Rustic Play Hut for Youngsters

August 23, 2026 / Jason Major / 1 Comment

*Sylvan setting of a new play hut at at the sharp, southern bend of the Upland Trail*

An engaging play hut has been installed to encourage children to venture onto the nature trails with their guardians and stretch their imaginations. The hut will also support our efforts to develop a children’s outdoor education program.

The open walled construction provides lovely views of the nearby vernal pond and South Cove while allowing guardians to monitor active youngsters.

Steps in hut construction and installation

Cedar logs were milled into thick planks that were bolted together as modules, which were then transported by electric cart to the installation site with minimal environmental impact.

*Fabricator Don Nguyen during module assembly*

We are grateful to the City of Warwick for supporting this project, the VJ Palmieri Charitable Trust for a grant to cover the project cost of $8,800, David Goss for arranging purchase and milling of the cedar poles by Jim Lawson, Steve Douglas for providing storage for the cedar planks, and Don Nguyen for fabricating and installing the hut.

Do Brush Piles Really Work For Wildlife? Yes!

March 18, 2026March 17, 2026 / Jason Major / Leave a comment

While the park was under a thick cover of snow during February 2026, certain brush piles were surrounded by abundant tracks of the Eastern Cottontail.

Abundant tracks of the Eastern Cottontail

Once the snow had melted, the appearance of well-worn entrance holes in these brush piles proved that they were used as shelters during a period of extreme cold.

Entry holes were excavated from around logs

The location of where entrance holes were excavated and their relationship to the overall matrix of the popular brush piles suggest that a good one must include different kinds of plant material in alternate layers. A loosely interwoven network of woody stems of different diameters is important to form a sturdy dome-like shape that holds grassy material, herbaceous vines, and leaf litter for thermal insulation.

Brush piles that are well-built can last several years since component materials can be added over time. Such stable locations would provide save havens for wildlife from predators as well.

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Finding Artistic Inspiration at Salter Grove

August 2, 2021 / Jason Major / Leave a comment

*Oil painter Pat Perry at Salter Grove on July 23, 2021*

Salter Grove isn’t just a great place to picnic, play, and go fishing—you can also find it artistically inspiring like Pat Perry did in July! Pat set up her portable easel for a bit of “plein air” painting, capturing the beauty of the cove, causeway, and breakwater from the eastern shore under a bright summer sky.

Pat came “all the way” from West Greenwich to paint a view from Salter Grove.

And earlier today on the west side of the park, “sidewalk artists” Sabrina and Adam created quite an impressive display of magical beasts, national flags, and planets to explore in chalk on the paved path to the playground.