Family Fun
From outdoor adventures to star-gazing, South County has a wide variety of family entertainment options.
The Rhode Island Lighthouse Cruises and Newport Harbor Tours are a great way to gain your sea legs while sailing through famous Newport Harbor. Departing daily in May through October from Quonset Point in North Kingstown, RI, the cruises and tours have encompassed the 10 lighthouses and 10 islands which call Narragansett Bay home. The other sights on the Bay will be endless and the memory of this classic sea adventure will linger for years to come. Looking for a more hand’s on experience? Biomes Marine Biology Center is the destination to become acclimated first hand with a variety of oceanic creatures.
The Bradford R. Boss Arena is a great venue to have lots of fun in a family-friendly environment. Situated on the campus of the University of Rhode Island, this state of the art ice rink operates year-round, opening its doors 7 days a week, 52 weeks out of the year for over 15 hours a day. With leagues, public sessions, youth and adult hockey leagues and clinics, the Boss Ice Arena is the coolest destination in town to take a few laps on the ice. Ice skate rental, Pro shop and snack bar are all available on site. When the air starts to chill, the Washington Trust Community Skating Center on Main Street in Westerly will be in full force as the destination for outdoor ice skating. This is a great winter activity for entire family; skate rentals and snack bar available on site.
The Frosty Drew Observatory in Charlestown lights up the sky, quite literally, as a dedicated destination for observational astronomy. Fitted with an azimuth motor and declination shutter, the fully automated, high-powered 16” Meade LX200 Schmidt Cassegrain telescope is driven by a computer that knows the position of approximately 64,000 deep-space objects and can locate each with the touch of a few buttons. The dark sky beckons viewers to enjoy the rings of Saturn, the Galilean moons of Jupiter, Lunar geography, star clusters, nebulae, galaxies and hundreds of astronomical objects on a clear night.
Bikers beware! South County has a bike path for all skills levels. The Davis Bike Path at Quonset Point in North Kingstown offers a 2.5 mile shared-use bike path from Post Road to Calf Pasture Point Beach which abuts a lovely nature preserve along the route. If you find yourself more centrally located in Rhode Island, the Coventry Bike Path and Greenway is a pleasant 4.5 mile, shared-use bike path between Whitford Street and Town Farm Road. Open daily from dawn to dusk, there are several parking offerings to access this path including Pilgrim Avenue, Station Street, Paine Field and Route 117. The William C. O’Neill Bike Path is a lovely 7.8 mile shared-use bike path from Kingston Station in the village of West Kingston in South Kingstown to Mumford Road in Narragansett. If you need to rent a bike, sales, service or equipment – W.E. Stedman Bike Company in South Kingstown and Napatree Bikes in Westerly will gladly meet any of your cycling needs.
Like aforementioned, South County fits the bill for all seasons. Adventureland Family Fun Park in Narragansett boasts go-karts, carousel, mini-golf, bumper boats, batting cages and bank-shot basketball for the kid in all of us. Looking to burn off some steam? Rock Spot Climbing in Peace Date has climbing for all ages and abilities and is conveniently open from 10 a.m. to midnight daily. The Water Wizz in Westerly is a great summer outing with over 1,000 feet of spills, thrills, dips and twists while Yawgoo Valley Ski Area and Water Park play to both seasons; the open snowy terrain offering Rhode Island’s only ski area with skiing, snowboarding, snow tubing and during the warmer months, the water park offers three pools with waterslides and more.
