Rocky Point State Park is the former location of the well-known and loved Rocky Point Amusement Park. What was once a busy and noisy venue has become a mostly quiet, relaxing location by the water. Remains of the park’s former days of glory are scattered throughout the area.
Ah, Rocky Point. Like many people in Southern New England of, well, a certain age, I have memories, however vague, of this beloved park.
Benny hadn’t yet made his piligrimage to pay his respects to the long-lost amusement park. Although the park operated well before his time, he knew that visiting Rocky Point was important. And, of course, he wanted to see if he could find any abandoned rides.
The Arch
Any self-respecting Rhode Islander and Southern MA resident (at least that’s what I’m told) will be able to recognize The Arch. After a long day of fun at the park, families would use The Arch as place to meet. Remember, kids, this was before cell phones and texting. Having a designated place to meet at a certain time was wicked important.
Turn right around from The Arch, and you’re greeted with this beautiful view.
The Skyliner
As I was taking this photo of the water, Benny started running in the other direction. He seemed really excited.
“Bob, I found a ride!”
I thought he had lost his little furry bear mind, but he did, in fact, find the rusty remains of The Skyliner. This ride would give you a bird’s-eye view of the park. And I actually remember going on it when I was young! It seemed a lot bigger back then, though.
“Let’s follow the cables into the woods!” Benny exclaimed. He’s always up for turning a simple trip into an adventure.
“Let’s not!” I replied. He wasn’t happy with that, but I didn’t want to be bushwacking into the woods. I didn’t have bug spray.
Followers of the blog already know how this ended up. But more on that later.
The House of Horrors
Benny wasn’t about to let his sense of adventure be thwarted. A few yards away, he saw an informational sign. He ran for it and started making spooky sounds.
“What’s gotten into you?” I asked.
“It’s the House of Horrors! It’s Rocky Point’s old haunted house! And here’s a stone staircase going nowhere. Let’s follow it.”
I doubted that it was going nowhere, but I let him take the lead.
We soon found an abandoned structure which had been part of the House of Horrors. At that point, I realized that we sure do like to vist abandoned places a lot.
The Fishing Pier
Rocky Point State Park also has a fishing pier. We didn’t stay too long because it was windy, and we didn’t want Benny to get blown away. We do hope that you enjoy the photos we took.
Some More Ruins
Before we go any further, we have some bad news. The Rocky Point Chowder House is no longer there. We looked. It had still been standing a few years ago. But there other things in the area to check out.
We followed the walkway through the woods. It was nice and quiet by this area. Well, it was quiet until Benny saw stairs again. I didn’t want to follow them. As I said before, I didn’t have bug spray and this path was overgrown.
“Come on, Bob! We need to see this!”
I relented. I put him in the backpack and went on the short trail.
“I’m so glad you went into the woods, Bob!”
I instantly knew why he was saying that, and I’m pretty sure you do too.
The Circle Swing
The remains of The Circle Swing are pretty cool to look at. This particular structure has been at Rocky Point since the early 1900s.
Benny decided to be a rebel and not listen to the sign, as you can see.
“Welp,” I said, “I guess it’s time to go.” We’ve seen everything here and I’m getting hungry.”
We walked across the field in the direction of the parking lot on Rocky Point Avenue.
The Adventure into the Woods
We passed underneath the rusty cables from The Skyliner. “Bob, you went into the woods before…let’s follow those cables!”
I knew I had made a mistake earlier. And, honestly, I was a bit curious too.
We found a trail right off of the main walking path. Just a ways down we saw this hill of rocks. If you look close enough, you can see rusty metal at the top.
“We can’t turn back now!” Benny shouted, “There’s something up there!”
I knew that a bit of climbing would be involved. It reminded me of our trip to Purgatory Chasm.
“Look at that! We found the other end of The Skyliner,” Benny said.
“Yes, we did, in all its rusted glory,” I quipped.
Like so many of our other adventures, I realized that we had taken the hard way up. There’s a well-worn path on the other side of the hill.
“Well, at least we had an adventure!” Benny said.
That we did. We descended the hill, went back to the car, and got something to eat.
For more information on Rocky Point State Park, check out the state’s site.
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