Fort Wetherill State Park

To anyone who thinks that teenagers don’t go outside enough… oh man… just take a drive through this park. It was like a high school dumped out on parent visitation day. Mostly there were groups of 3 to 10 teenagers but there were also several sets of parents with one or two teens in tow.
The trails are not cut back very well so it seems like winter is definitely the best time to go (unless they cut it back at the beginning of summer maybe). I can’t even imagine getting through the trails when everything is growing in the summer if it’s not cut back.
The pieces of the fort are cool, however, they are covered in spray paint. Unfortunately, the vast majority of the ‘paintings’ amount to the human equivalent of dogs peeing on buildings to mark territory. Few and far between you can find something that could be considered artistic, but even then, there was nothing too impressive.
My suggestion would be to come here mid-​week during the day to avoid the swarms of teens squealing, smoking and being generally annoying. Do I sound like I’m irritated?! I’ll say this… If I had lived nearby when I was a teen… I would be at this park ALL THE TIME for sure. This is definitely a great place for them, just not for me as an adult wanting to hike peacefully and smell nature instead of spray paint.

This is a really cool spot to visit when in Jamestown with larger space than Beavertail and parts of an old fort that can be explored. Definitely bring a flashlight if that’s your plan for going into the tunnels .
The outside is spacious and there are a lot of trails, though some end abruptly and you will have to head back the way you came. While the ocean views from the cliffs are awesome, the town should do something about the massive graffiti issue here from all the punk kids who vandalize such a great spot and certainly get rid of the graffiti already here. You’re Jamestown after all, you have the money to do so.

Really cool spot :-) worth checking out!

Went there hoping to soak up some history and explore an old fort, and instead found a monument to graffiti. Apparently, Fort Wetherill has become a hangout for every idiot with access to a paint can. Was completely turned off by the alleged «street art» (what a joke) that defaces every inch of the place. The abundance of empty beer bottles, soda cans, broken glass and discarded fast food wrappers only added to my disgust. A fine way to treat an irreplaceable piece of history, I must say. Congratulations people of Jamestown, you must be very proud.

This was in direct contrast to the guided tour I had an hour beforehand at Fort Adams, but it was fun in it’s own special way. Completely overgrown (no doubt easier to explore in the winter) and offering spectacular cliff-​side views of the Atlantic, when you wander down one of the many «desire paths» through the brush. There is another satellite bunker of this Fort a few blocks away on another cliff, but I did not have time to see it.
The long row of embedded round structures are a sight to behold. I believe they were the swivel points for anti aircraft-​cannons… well protected and hidden from sight.
There are many «secret» tunnels to explore at your own leisure. If you look for them, you should follow them to see where they go, but bring a bright flashlight.

We toured the Fort itself, if you are going you will need sturdy shoes (no flip flops) and a flashlight. There are some artistic taggers doing work down there. Some are just kids with their first spray can.
Like another Unilocaler said… climb up over the fort, and down the hill to see a beautiful view. When I was last there I saw a couple kids sweeping a big section of the fort to make videos of their antics (skateboarding).
Some rooms underneath are pretty clean and you can see the original light ten brick that some scavengers have «borrowed».
It feels like they should just open this place up and make it into a skate park or some such.
Four stars for the exceptional view, too bad it is hard to get to for some people.

If you ever want to feel as though you live in a Seurat painting of an Elysian field, bring your Bordeaux no further than the hills of Fort Wetherill. As a veritable park, Fort Wetherill offers none of the rambunctious steel and plastic equipment indigenous to your neighborhood sandpit. Instead, it doles a relaxing afternoon on something akin to the Jamestown green circa 1700 (only with a terribly ugly modern plumbing facility that irritatingly, but necessarily, disrupts the impressionist fantasy). Come here, watch your children frolic… maybe give them some ribbons and sunhats, and a goat if you’re feeling feisty, and pretend that you live in the days of yesteryear.

A solid state park, great views of the cliffs & there’s even beaches on which to picnic. If you’ve seen the movie, Moonrise Kingdom, the beachy area is one of the locations that they used in the film. Definitely walk around the cliffs, check out the tidepools. Not a place I’d explore alone — the empty fort can be a bit sketchy, but great to go with friends.

Ah Fort Wetherill, we meet again. I have not been to this park since I got hypothermia during a dive years ago. I know a lot of people like to dive here but I had a bad dive here, murky and grassy, but maybe it was a fluke. The park itself is nice but feels small. The graffiti on the old fort makes it feel kinda sketchy in that area. It’s an ok park overall but it’s no Beavertail

The most beautiful park in the state! Breathtaking views of the ocean from the cliffs. You could spend all day here hiking through the trails and discovering. There are plenty of picnic tables and shady trees. Also a big meadow/​clearing. The fort itself is really coo too and you can explore the old bunkers and gun turrents. I normally hate grafitti, but some of the stuff here is pretty artistic.
Great place for families, couples, or anyone adventurous and not scared of bugs.

Ummm… Why do they have a pHOne numba?
Otherwise straight legit. Peep ocean AND silly RI spray tags (+HisStory)… Memories! But I’m not gonna get into that here… This is my favorite park (remember when we got caught with that ish, Evan! BIG UPS)
Yeah that’s my back porch you see.

This was one of my favorite places to go on a picnic when I was a kid and it’s still one of my favorite spots in the state to this day. There are picnic tables and shady trees in the fields next to the road and parking lot, but the real fun is a little further into the park.
The old fort for which the park is named is covered in graffiti and surrounded in many places by fence, but it is a really cool place to explore. There are dark and damp tunnels under the fort, high walls with views of the bay on top of the fort, and massive holes in the ground where you can use your imagination to picture the giant cannons that used to reside there.
Go a little further past the fort down one of the many paths leading towards the water and the views get even better. There is a fence between the fort and the water that makes me believe that you’re not technically allowed to go that way. But nearly every path leads you to a hole in the fence and they’re the same holes that were there when I was a kid. If the effort to keep you out were a serious one, the holes would be mended by now. The climb over the fort, scrabble down the hill, and crawl through the fence will be rewarded. You come out to what is, in my opinion, the most beautiful view in Rhode Island. The rocky cliffs overlooking the ocean are a blast to climb on and breathtaking to view.
The next time you head to Newport, do yourself a favor and get off the highway before the tollbridge and spend some time in Jamestown. This place is a must see.

A beautiful Jamestown state park located high on the cliffs over looking the East Passage of Narragansett Bay. A great place to go anytime of the year. In the winter it is usually empty so it’s a nice place for some solitude but in the summer it ‘s crowded with people on picnics, hiking, scuba diving, kayaking or just enjoying the views.
The park was once an old coastal fort and the thick walls of the fort and the gun emplacements can still be seen. Up on top of the walls great views of Castle Hill Lighthouse and Fort Adams over in Newport are visible. The park is a very popular place to watch the tall ships enter Newport.
It’s also a very popular place for diving and many people from Rhode Island learn to dive here. The boat ramp is pretty steep but it’s fine for small boats and many kayaks launch from the site.
An absolutely great place that deserves more than five stars.