Newport Rhode Island Famed Cliff Walk

A 10 minute walk from the Inn, the Cliff Walk is a 6.5 mile walk along the ocean edge cliffs of Newport that combines the natural beauty of the Newport shore line with the architectural history of Newport's gilded age. Wildflowers, birds, geology, and a front yard view of the Newport Mansions all add to this delightful Walk.

The History of the Cliff Walk in Newport, Rhode Island goes back to the latter half of the 1800's when wealthy New Yorkers began to make Newport's Atlantic Ocean coastline a summer home destination. From about 1880 until the start of The Great Depression, these millionaires spent time and money to develop the Cliff Walk along the rocky shoreline into a wonderful public walkway.
The Great Depression and the economic impact that came along with it started a long period of neglect for The Cliff Walk. Up until the early 1970's, much of the walk and the Historic Newport Mansions along it fell into disrepair.

However, in 1974 the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers spent about two years reconstructing parts of the Cliff Walk using gravel, asphalt, and mammoth boulders. Both the City of Newport and the State of Rhode Island also contributed funds for repairs between Easton's Beach to the Marble House. Further improvements were made in the early 1980s and funded by the National Park Service Land and Water Conservation Fund. In 1993 and 1994 an additional $3.4 million was spent on new retaining walls to check erosion along the northern cliffs and to repair damage from Hurricane Bob that occurred in 1991.

The Cliff Walk is protected by the combination of long term public use, the "Fisherman's Rights" granted by the Colonial Charter of King Charles II, and a passage in the Rhode Island Constitution that granted the public "rights of fishery and the privileges of the shore to which they have heretofore been entitled." Now centuries of prior use have guaranteed the legal right of Newport's citizens, tourists, and guests of our Bed and Breakfast to walk on the cliffs.

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