Entry No. 45 — the Providence file — filed under: state-highpoint
Jerimoth Hill
Rhode Island's summit is an 812-foot rise in the Foster woods, crowned by a flat boulder and a mailbox holding the summit register. For roughly two decades it was the hardest state highpoint in America — not for terrain, but because landowner Henry Richardson guarded the access path with motion detectors, no-trespassing signs, and screaming fits, eventually relenting to exactly four open days a year. New owners restored daily access in 2005, and the summit has since passed through Brown University, which kept the rights to build an observatory under the dark sky, to the State of Rhode Island. The 'climb' is now a flat 0.3-mile walk off Route 101 with about ten feet of elevation gain.
→ Three more weird outdoor & roadside oddities in Providence — never the same twice
The story
Rhode Island's summit is 812 feet, in the Foster woods about fifteen miles west of Providence and half a mile short of the Connecticut line. It is named for Jerimoth Brown (1783–1830), an early settler. The trail to the top runs 0.3 miles and gains ten feet. For years this was called the hardest state highpoint in America to reach, and none of the difficulty was the hill.
The only path to the summit crossed the driveway of a private landowner, Henry Richardson, who prohibited entry — no-trespassing signs, motion sensors, and, by the accumulated accounts of highpointers who tried, confrontations that did not stay verbal. Eventually Richardson's son brokered a compromise: the path would open four times a year. After Richardson's death the property was bought in 2005 by the Mosley family, who allowed daily access and later ceded the land to the state.
The summit itself had a separate owner the whole time. Walter Raymond Turner, Brown class of 1911, bought the saltbox house to the west and the surrounding 360 acres in 1938 and gave the high point to the university, which used it for decades as an observatory site — a land-locked parcel with a view of the sky and no Providence glare in it. In 2014 Brown sold the summit to Rhode Island, reserving the right to build an observatory there anyway. What's left is the least strenuous state highpoint in the country: a flat walk through trees to a low rock outcrop with a mailbox beside it, and inside the mailbox a register that people genuinely sign.
What it's like
The trailhead is a small signed pull-off on Route 101 (Hartford Pike) with room for a few cars — coming from Connecticut it's about 5.5 miles east of I-395 exit 93. Note that the roadside “state's highest point” sign is not the high point; the real one is the rock outcrop at the end of the path, marked by the mailbox holding the summit register. The walk is flat, wooded, free, and takes five or six minutes each way, which leaves the ceremony as the actual content: find the boulder, stand on it, sign the book, accept that there is no view because the trees are taller than the elevation gain. Surrounding land is private and Brown still holds observatory rights, so stay on the path.
The move: Leave Providence ninety minutes before sunset, pull off Route 101 at the Jerimoth Hill sign, stroll the 0.3 miles, stage the least-earned mountaineering photo in America on the summit boulder, and leave a joint entry in the mailbox register.
📍 Before you go Trailhead is a small signed pull-off on Route 101 (Hartford Pike) in Foster, about a half mile east of the Connecticut line — parking is a few roadside spaces, and the path is flat, free, and open dawn to dusk. The roadside 'highest point' marker is not the summit; the real one is the boulder with the register mailbox at the end of the trail. Surrounding land is private and Brown University retains observatory rights, so stay on the path.
- 📍 Foster
- 💸 Free
- ⚡ Up for anything
- 🌗 Outdoors
Hours: Added 2026-08-25 — confirm current hours before you go.
Pair it with
- Seagrave Memorial Observatory — Brown wanted this hilltop precisely because western Rhode Island's sky is dark; twenty-odd minutes east in Scituate, the Skyscrapers actually built the observatory and open it free on clear Saturday nights.
- Rustic Tri-View Drive-In — Keep heading northeast for a double feature under the same unpolluted sky — three screens, 550 cars, and the nightly question of which second movie you can stay awake through.
- Crook Point Bascule Bridge (the "Stuck-Up Bridge") — Drive back into Providence for Rhode Island's other great monument to doing nothing: a 200-foot railroad leaf cranked upright in 1976 and abandoned in that position because leaving it was cheaper than removing it.
More weird in Providence
Good to know
How do I find the trailhead? There's no street address.
It's a small signed pull-off on Route 101, also called Hartford Pike, in Foster — roughly half a mile east of the Connecticut border and about fifteen miles west of Providence. From I-395 exit 93 in Connecticut, head east on 101 for about 5.5 miles. Navigate by map pin or coordinates, not by address.
What does it cost, and do I need a permit?
Free, no permit, no booking, no gate. The summit is state-owned now and the walk is open during daylight hours.
How hard is the walk, and how long does it take?
0.3 miles each way with about ten feet of elevation gain — a flat woods path, five or six minutes in each direction. Ordinary shoes are fine; no boots, water bottle, or sense of occasion required, though the last one helps.
Is the sign by the road the actual summit?
No, and this trips up a lot of people. The roadside marker reading “Jerimoth Hill: State's Highest Point” is just a marker. Keep walking to the low rock outcrop at the end of the path — the mailbox with the register in it is how you know you've arrived.
Does the season change anything?
Access is daylight-only on an unlit woods path with roadside parking, so winter's early dark shortens the window considerably. In summer you're in Rhode Island woods with the standard tick and mosquito situation — long pants, and check yourself afterward.
Plan a visit & invite your people →
Further reading: Wikipedia · Atlas Obscura · Roadside America
last checked: 2026-08-25