Arcadia Management Area OHV Trails
Arcadia Management Area is Rhode Island's largest tract of state-managed land at approximately 14,000 acres in the towns of Exeter, Hopkinton, Richmond, and West Greenwich, occupying a broad swath of the state's western interior that represents nearly all of Rhode Island's meaningful backcountry. Within this conservation area, the Rhode Island DEM designates a network of ATV trails that constitute the only organized public-land OHV riding in the state: a system of wooded single-track, forest road, and cross-country routes winding through the mixed oak, pine, and hardwood forest characteristic of the southern New England coastal plain interior. The terrain is modest by regional standards, Rhode Island's topography peaks at Jerimoth Hill at just 812 feet, but the trail network provides genuine forest ATV riding on forested hills, through stream-bottom crossings draining toward the Wood-Pawcatuck watershed, and along the varied terrain of the Beaver River and Roaring Brook corridors that give the area its drainage character. ATVs and registered dirt bikes are the permitted machine classes; full-size UTVs must check the current width and weight restrictions with DEM before visiting, as state forest road designations vary by trail segment. The Arcadia area is shared with hikers, horseback riders, hunters, and mountain bikers, trail use is multi-modal and seasonal conflict awareness is important, particularly during fall deer season when hunting pressure is highest. The RI DEM Arcadia office (401-539-2356) handles current trail conditions and closure information.