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All the United States Rhode Island Newport Newport Cliff Walk

Newport Cliff Walk

Three and a half miles of cliffs, rocky beaches, Gilded Age mansions and 40 Steps to nowhere in particular.

Newport, Rhode Island

Added By
Myconinja
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Section of the restored Cliff Walk   OldPine on WikiVoyage
Section of the restored Cliff Walk   OldPine on WikiVoyage
Newport Mansions from Cliff Walk   Jeanpaul Ferro on WikiCommons
Rocky beach along Cliff Walk   Eric Savage on Flickr
Looking down the new 40 Steps   Robyn Fleming on Flickr
Mansions along Cliff Walk (The Breakers is that big one in the middle)   CorpsNewEngland on Flickr
  GREG MEYER md / Atlas Obscura User
  GREG MEYER md / Atlas Obscura User
  GREG MEYER md / Atlas Obscura User
The Breakers from Cliff Walk   leawhittington / Atlas Obscura User
  e1savage / Atlas Obscura User
  e1savage / Atlas Obscura User
  GREG MEYER md / Atlas Obscura User
  e1savage / Atlas Obscura User
  GREG MEYER md / Atlas Obscura User
  GREG MEYER md / Atlas Obscura User
  GREG MEYER md / Atlas Obscura User
  GREG MEYER md / Atlas Obscura User
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About

From First Beach at one end to Bailey’s Beach at the other, Newport Rhode Island’s Cliff Walk is a three & a half mile National Recreation Trail with seven access points, and 40 steps with a history dating back to the Gilded Age.    

Traversing the Cliff Walk has a few challenging (and slippery) sections, but most of it is long easy stretches with sweeping views of Narragansett Bay. You can see why those Captains of Industry all wanted their own piece of it – the bigger the piece the better.

The story of what are known as the 40 Steps, just off the east end of Narragansett Avenue, is one story of Cliff Walk in miniature. As Newport was being gobbled up as a resort town for the super-wealthy, access to some of the most arresting shoreline in New England was still open to people who weren’t named Astor and Vanderbilt. Sure there were mansions like The Breakers and Ochre Court dominating the land high atop the cliffs, but their cooks, maids, butlers, chauffeurs and gardeners created their own piece of the seaside playground.

Sometime around 1880 a set of 40 rickety steps was built down to the bottom of the cliffs. With no beach at the bottom, the steps had no real destination. But they became the servants’ own meeting place, with music and dancing breaking up the monotony of work at the big houses. Today, much of the land along Cliff Walk is still privately owned, but since 1975 this public trail with seven rights-of-way (and those 40 steps) the beauty of the Bay is still accessible for everyone.

In 2012 Cliff Walk suffered a major blow from Hurricane Sandy, smashing up some sections and dragging pieces of it into the Bay. It took some time and over five million dollars, but by the summer of 2014 it had been put back together and reopened to the public. The 40 Steps have been rebuilt too, this time not so rickety.  

QR codes, on little wooden stands, have been placed along the walk. They are easy to miss. If you use a QR reader on a smart phone, they will tell you little bits of history of the area of the cliff walk you are standing it. Usually it is about one of the big houses standing nearby.

Related Tags

Beaches Cliffs Mansions Rhode Island

Know Before You Go

Access from the north or south end of the walk, or several points in between.

In March 2022, and again in December 2023 a significant section of the Cliff Walk collapsed during winter storms. While most of the Cliff walk is still open/re-opened,  due to structural damage to a section of the Cliff Walk is closed.  Detours are in place between Narragansett Avenue and Webster Street for the foreseeable future.

Community Contributors

Added By

Myconinja

Edited By

e1savage, Ragnar of Ballard, GREG MEYER md, leawhittington

  • e1savage
  • Ragnar of Ballard
  • GREG MEYER md
  • leawhittington

Published

December 16, 2015

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Sources
  • https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Newport_Cliff_Walk
  • http://www.newport-discovery-guide.com/newport-ri-attractions-40-steps.html
Newport Cliff Walk
Memorial Drive and Eustis Avenue from the north
Bellevue Ave and Coggeshall Ave from the south
Newport, Rhode Island, 02840
United States
41.485127, -71.297604
Visit Website
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Nearby Places

Arthur Ashe's Tennis Racket

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