RI NEMBA

Big River is a large tract (8600 acres) of land governed by Water Resources Board and located mainly in West Greenwich near exit 6, 6a & 7 along interstate 95 (south side of the highway from Amgen). It was aquired to build a reservoir many years ago but the project was never really started. Currently the north side (not shown in the maps below) is being considered for a well field to add to the local water system. The south side of BR and Carr Pond area hold a laborinth of trails mostly made over decades by the motorcycles and interwoven with old farmer and logging roads.

Around every Earth Day over the past several years (a weekend in April) a sizable group of NEMBAites and other environmental minded groups get together to help clean some of the rubbish out of Big River. 2008 turned out 100 volunteers filling 8 dumpsters with mostly historic trash from old homesteads deep in the woods, abondoned cars and tire dumps.

When the use guidelines were written for Big River mountain biking did not exist. In early 2010 mountain biking in Big River was made legal through a bill in the house spearheaded by Representative Ray Sullivan. New use guidelines are being drafted that will likely be similar to Arcadia for riding in Big River.

We continue to take a proactive approach working with the WRB on projects like the cleanup.

June 08 update. Have revised the map to include some “common” used trail names so it is easier to talk about trail issues and locations.

Here’s a map of the whole the combined Big River including Carr Pond, click on it to enlarge and zoom in

Here’s a detail of the Big River side (west), easier size to print and read

and here’s a detail of the Carr Pond Side (east), easier size to print & read

here’s a pdf of the TourDe Big River Fun Ride of Sept 09
tourde-big-river-handout2

here’s two pdf’s of the 2010 TourDu Big River fun ride

pdf of 2011 Fun Ride:
BR fun ride 2011

the vice president for Big River for RI Nemba is Alan Winsor
(alanwinsor@cox.net)