The Newport Cliff Walk is considered one of the top attractions in Newport,

Rhode Island Rhode Island ( ) is a state in the New England region of the Northeastern United States. It borders Connecticut to its west; Massachusetts to its north and east; and the Atlantic Ocean to its south via Rhode Island Sound and Block Is ...

, in the

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. It is a public access walkway that borders the shore line. It has been designated a

National Recreation Trail The National Trails System is a series of trails in the United States designated "to promote the preservation of, public access to, travel within, and enjoyment and appreciation of the open-air, outdoor areas and historic resources of the Nati ...

, the first in New England. The Cliff Walk starts from the east end of Bailey's Beach to the western end of First Beach. There are public access points at Bellevue Avenue, Ledge Road, Marine Avenue, Ruggles Avenue, Sheppard Avenue, Webster Street, Narragansett Avenue, and Memorial Boulevard. The Cliff Walk provides views of

The Breakers The Breakers is a Gilded Age mansion located at 44 Ochre Point Avenue, Newport, Rhode Island, US. It was built between 1893 and 1895 as a summer residence for Cornelius Vanderbilt II, a member of the wealthy Vanderbilt family. The 70-room mans ...

, Marble House, Rough Point, and other prominent mansions from the

Gilded Age In History of the United States, United States history, the Gilded Age is the period from about the late 1870s to the late 1890s, which occurred between the Reconstruction era and the Progressive Era. It was named by 1920s historians after Mar ...

as well as views into the

Narragansett Bay Narragansett Bay is a bay and estuary on the north side of Rhode Island Sound covering , of which is in Rhode Island. The bay forms New England's largest estuary, which functions as an expansive natural harbor and includes a small archipelago. S ...

History

The legal precedents for the Cliff Walk date back to 1663, when the

charter A charter is the grant of authority or rights, stating that the granter formally recognizes the prerogative of the recipient to exercise the rights specified. It is implicit that the granter retains superiority (or sovereignty), and that the ...

granted by King Charles II promised Rhode Island colonists the right to fish along the shoreline. This right of public access to the shore was later guaranteed in the Rhode Island state constitution. The coastline remained undeveloped until around 1880, when owners of the Gilded Age mansions started building a simple path along the coast, in sections. Over the decades, many disputes have erupted between landowners and the public about access to the walk, with wealthy owners sometimes erecting fences, boulders, or walls along the route.

Damage and repairs

Storms and hurricanes, including the New England hurricane of 1938 and Hurricane Carol in 1954, have repeatedly caused damage to parts of the Cliff Walk, followed by repair and rebuilding. In the 1970s, the

U.S. Army Corps of Engineers The United States Army Corps of Engineers (USACE) is the military engineering branch of the United States Army. A direct reporting unit (DRU), it has three primary mission areas: Engineer Regiment, military construction, and civil wor ...

spent two years doing repairs. In 1993 and 1994, $3.4 million was spent on new retaining walls. Hurricane Bob caused damage in 1991.

Hurricane Sandy

In October 2012, a storm surge caused by

Hurricane Sandy Hurricane Sandy (unofficially referred to as Superstorm Sandy) was an extremely large and devastating tropical cyclone which ravaged the Caribbean and the coastal Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic region of the United States in late ...

washed away large sections of the Cliff Walk. The walk was closed through June 2014, when it reopened after a $5.2 million restoration.

2022 Collapse

On March 3, 2022, a 20-foot section of the Cliff Walk collapsed near Webster Street and Narragansett Avenue. No injuries were reported, and the cause of the collapse is currently unknown. As of March 4, the area near the site of the collapse will remain closed "for the foreseeable future", with public safety crews continuing to assess the damage.

References

External links

National Recreation Trails entry on the Cliff Walk

City of Newport Cliff Walk Commission
* {{Rhode Island hiking trails Hiking trails in Rhode Island Historic American Engineering Record in Rhode Island National Recreation Trails in Rhode Island Protected areas of Newport County, Rhode Island Tourist attractions in Newport, Rhode Island