Napatree Beach

4 stars. Only reason it isn’t 5 is that I am picky about waves. I either want big waves like at second beach or gentle waves like at East beach. These were obnoxiously in the middle to the point where I couldn’t really relax or swim, just kept getting hit in the face with water. Only went in once and not for long. East beach is more clear and a better swimming beach. I may try it again and go to the end of the beach this time. Napatree is very scenic and a good place to walk. It is not well advertised so it is hard to find if you don’t already know about it. You go to the parking area for the private club and just to the right of the private lot sign you will see a sign for Napatree. I almost missed it myself. Walk over the dunes and there you are. If you walk up on the rock wall you get a good view of the lighthouse and Ocean House. The area of Watch Hill itself is really nice and is a good place to spend the day.

This is a truly special place.
I’ve come to do the summer stroll in Watch Hill thing and had no idea this spot existed just beyond the shops and yacht club/​cabanas, so shout out to brian s. for sharing the review and stories about the peninsula. Even on an evening in July it was quiet on the beach — quiet like only passed 5 people quiet. In July!
It’s a serene and meditative loooong walk, gorgeous views of the vast ocean and Watch Hill lighthouse. The wild beach grasses, bushes and plants up the center of this narrow strip are also worth the attention. Lots of birds and hawks; I can only imagine the bird paradise this place must be in the fall. Awesome driftwood!

A very peaceful
beach
with a very
violent past.
Napatree is still my favorite beach in all of Rhode Island. Not necessarily for swimming but for walking and a place to land while yaking. It’s a thin mile and a half spit of land that ends in old Fort Mansfield.
The name originally meant something like place with the trees but I heard the monster storm of 1815 wiped all the trees away and just left sand and scrub brush. Over the years people started building cottages and beach pavilions and even a fort during the Spanish American War. It became a very popular place for people to go and enjoy the ocean. At least until 1938.
That was when the devastating hurricane absolutely hammered the area. It literally wiped out every single dwelling on the peninsular. and killed scores of people. Incredible stores tell how nobody knew it was coming and folks got caught just sitting on their porches watching the giant 20 feet tidal surge approaching and wondering what it was. They soon found out.
One story relates how a guy was sitting in a chair in front of his house and when the surge hit it immediately knocked down his cottage. Somehow he held on to a door and was literally carried a mile across Little Narragansett Bay at incredible speed while holding on for his life. Both him and the kitten that he happened to place in his pocket survived. Other people found safety in massive Fort Mansfield. The area over a mile across the bay was known as Appliance Beach because people kept digging stoves, refrigerators and other appliances out of the sand for years after.
There is a small island called Sandy Point that is just east of Napatree. It once was connected but the hurricane ripped it form the peninsula. It is now a rolling island that is slowly making it way further away from Napatree. Nothing is on Sandy Point but it’s a great place to stop while yaking or boating and have a beach all to yourself.
Although the small town of Watch Hill becomes extremely crowded in the summer and parking is virtually impossible to find, Napatree itself is seldom crowded. Probably because it’s difficult to walk in the heavy sand and it is so isolated. In the winter of course the whole area is deserted. I went last week and I didn’t see another person the entire time. The whole point and peninsula was mine.
One of the best places I have found anywhere for a cool winter hike along the ocean. It’s always windy and because of it’s very exposed location gets hammered by storms. That is part of the appeal. It still is a very wild and pristine place. Humans may had tamed Napatree at one time but the ’38 hurricane guaranteed the no one will ever try again.