Order of Visit: High Point #16
Date Visited: September 9, 2019
Route Taken: Trail from parking area on Highway 101 (0.3 miles round-trip)
Type of Terrain: Easy, flat dirt trail
Elevation: 812 feet
Ancestral Lands: Nahaganset, Narragansett, Nipmuc
What’s in a name?
If you know anything about Jerimoth Hill’s storied legacy, it’s probably the tales about how insanely difficult it used to be to get access to this landlocked high point. Highpointers were not welcomed with open arms.
But that’s all modern history. Dig a few centuries back and you’ll discover this meager mound’s legacy is intertwined with stories of witches and a lot of people with the surname Brown.
So let’s head back to 1783 when Jerimoth Brown was born in nearby Killingly, Connecticut (just six miles away) as the sixth of eleven children born to Margaret “Peggy” Hurhily and Isaiah Brown. With so many members of the Brown family living and buried nearby, this tiny hill in Foster, Rhode Island, was ultimately named after Jerimoth’s given name rather than the incredibly common surname.
Locals referred to Jerimoth Brown’s mother as “a witch from the wild bogs of Ireland” and she was well-known for her spells, charms, and herbal remedies. In fact, at least one source claimed that all women in the Brown family, but especially Jerimoth’s oldest sister Olive, were witches too.
According to the book Strange New England, two of the Brown girls, Abby and Whaley Brown were known locally as “the witches of Jerimoth Hill,” and they had a reputation for scaring townspeople by making items fly off the walls and shelves in their home and making rocking chairs to sway frantically.
These two witches were likely Jerimoth Brown’s nieces though, given that his own daughters were named Matilda, Mary, and Hazael, and they were born about a decade after these purported paranormal events. Nonetheless, Jerimoth’s unusual name is inextricably tied the fabled witches of Rhode Island.
Trip Summary
Jerimoth Hill lies in the far western part of the state, less than a mile from the Connecticut border. As we traveled south from Maine to New York, we opted to briefly detour into Rhode Island so we could cross one more highpoint off our list.
Tackling the highest summit in Rhode Island’s was extremely easy. And it was somewhat reminiscent of our January 2019 visit to Florida’s High Point because of its meager elevation of 812 feet.
Despite its ease, I’m glad we had Google Maps open when driving into the Rhode Island countryside. There was no formal parking lot at the trailhead when we visited Jerimoth Hill. There was just a widened shoulder for 2-3 cars to pull over on the eastbound side of Highway 101. So it would have been super easy to drive by and completely miss our spot.
Once safely parked, we saw a large white sign nailed to a wooden post welcoming us to Jermoth Hill and the flat path leading into the woods. There were also smaller signs nailed to the trees along the path about every 20 feet so we don’t accidentally wander off track onto the neighbor private property.
Getting from the road to the USGS survey marker only required a 3-4 minute walk. However, the signs for Jerimoth Hill continued beyond the survey marker another 50 feet toward a small rocky outcropping.
In most cases, high points like Jerimoth Hill can be somewhat anti-climatic. This is especially true when you’re used to strenuous climbs or rocky trails that make you truly earn the badge of being a highpointer.
But, given that I was in full-fledged “recovery mode” after my Appalachian Trail thru-hike (aka mostly just binge watching Netflix and eating pints of Ben & Jerry’s), this short side trip was just about the perfect pace for me.
And after a few quick photos to prove our presence at Jerimoth Hill, we were swiftly back in the car and heading back on our journey to New York.
Details
When to Visit: Year-round. The access trail is open dawn to dusk, and visitors are asked to follow the signs and stay on the designated path to respect the privacy of nearby private landowners.
Getting There: Jerimoth Hill is located off Highway 101 less than a mile from the Rhode Island-Connecticut border, and approximately 30 miles west of Providence, RI.
Entrance Fees: None.
Parking: Free parking for 2-3 cars is available on a shoulder pullout on Highway 101. There are no restrooms at the trailhead.
Accessibility: Easy for all ages and abilities. The summit is less than a 5-minute walk from the road and the trail is completely flat.
Bonus: This state high point used to be one of the most difficult ones to visit in the nation, with nearby property owners using some pretty extreme measures to scare off visitors trying to cross their land. However, an access trail to the high point became state-owned property in 2014, and Jerimoth Hill is now open to the public year-round.
Resources:
- Overview of Jerimoth Hill (Summit Post)
- History of Access Issues to Jerimoth Hill (Quahog)
- The Highest Point in Rhode Island (WSHU Public Radio)