The Blackstone River Greenway (formerly Bikeway) is a partially completed 48-mile (77 km) paved rail trail defining the course of the East Coast Greenway through the Blackstone Valley from Worcester, Massachusetts to Providence, Rhode Island in the United States.
As of 2016, approximately 11.5 miles (18.5 km) of the trail has been completed in Rhode Island, connecting the communities of Woonsocket, Lincoln, Cumberland, and Manville. Some 2.5 miles (4.0 km) of completed trail in Massachusetts connects Worcester and Millbury, as well as 3.7 miles of trail connecting Uxbridge and Blackstone.
The path roughly parallels the right-of-way of the active Providence & Worcester Railroad and its predecessor, the Blackstone Canal, running alongside the Blackstone River. In some places, the bike path follows the old canal towpath, with the long-abandoned canal running along one side and the river on the other. Only a short portion near Pratt Dam (a.k.a. Lonsdale Dam, connecting Lincoln, Rhode Island and Cumberland, Rhode Island) runs on abandoned railroad right-of-way.[1]
Once finished, the greenway will be linked to the East Bay Bike Path, for an additional 14.5 miles (23.3 km) of trail to Bristol, Rhode Island. The Blackstone River Greenway is also a designated section of the East Coast Greenway, the 3,000-mile trail system connecting cities from Maine to Florida.
- ^ "Blackstone River Greenway History". TrailLink. Retrieved July 12, 2021.