Arcadia's Orange Season Runs Longer This Year: A December Walking Calendar for Exeter

What happened to the quiet weeks in Arcadia's December?

Last year, an Exeter walker had a few dates to work around. Muzzleloader deer season ended November 30. Zone 2's shotgun season ran only from December 6 to 14. After that, no firearms deer season was running on state land for the rest of the year. Under Rhode Island DEM's 2026–2027 rules, those gaps are gone. Muzzleloader season opened Saturday, November 7 and runs through December 4. Shotgun season starts the next day and runs through December 31. From November 7 until New Year's Eve, Arcadia has one unbroken firearms season, and the heavier orange requirement covers every day from December 5 to December 31.

Last year's calendar had breaks. This year's doesn't.

DEM lists the change in the "Changes & Highlights" section of its 2026–2027 hunting and trapping abstract. Muzzleloader season "now extends to the day before shotgun season starts," and Zones 1 and 2 now share an extended shotgun season. Set side by side with last season's guide, the Zone 2 calendar looks like this:

The shotgun row matters most for anyone out on the trails. Last year in Zone 2, shotgun season lasted 9 days. This year it lasts 27. Last year's December also had two firearm-free stretches on state land. The first ran from December 1 through 5, between the two seasons. The second started December 15, after the short shotgun week ended. The new calendar has neither. The only part of last year's schedule that ran past Christmas was the antlerless extension, and that applied to private land only. DEM has dropped it entirely.

Every Arcadia trailhead falls under the Zone 2 dates

Arcadia sits on the line where several towns meet. Rhode Island State Parks describes the management area as reached from Routes 138 and 165 and spreading across Richmond, Exeter, Hopkinton and West Greenwich. The state hunting regulation puts all four of those towns in Deer Zone 2. So every lot and trail in Arcadia runs on the dates in the table, whichever town line you happen to cross on a loop.

Local rules don't change that. As the eRegulations deer hunting summary states, "Local municipalities may not prevent hunting on State-owned land." Arcadia's calendar is the state's calendar.

What the orange rule asks of a walker, date by date

The orange requirement applies to everyone on a state management area, not only hunters. The State Parks page says it covers "hikers, equestrian riders, and cyclists." DEM's abstract sets two levels. All users wear 200 square inches of solid daylight fluorescent orange from the second Saturday in September through the last day of February. All hunters and users wear 500 square inches during every part of shotgun deer season. The same section says what counts:

"Orange must be worn above the waist and be visible in all directions. Examples: a hat covers 200 square inches. A combination of hat and vest covering 500 square inches. Fluorescent camouflage does not meet the requirement."

Here is what the requirement looks like for the rest of the season, starting from the day this post goes up:

1. November 7 through Friday, December 4. Muzzleloader season runs, and the 200-square-inch requirement applies. A hat meets DEM's example.
2. Saturday, December 5. Shotgun season opens, and the requirement rises to 500 square inches for every user. DEM's example is a hat plus a vest.
3. December 5 through Thursday, December 31. The 500-square-inch requirement stays in place every day, including the holiday weeks that were free of firearms seasons last year.
4. January 1 through January 31. Firearms seasons are over, and archery season continues to its January 31 close.
5. Through the last day of February. The 200-square-inch requirement for all users stays in force.

Last year, a walker who wanted to skip the 500-square-inch level could wait until December 15. This year, the heavier requirement starts Saturday, December 5 and runs to the end of the year.

The trails it covers, and the people who share them

The State Parks page lists the places most Exeter walkers already know: Stepping Stone Falls, Browning Mill Pond and its Loop Trail, the Upper Roaring Brook Accessible Trail, and Breakheart Pond. The Rhode Island Wild Plant Society describes the Mount Tom Trail in Exeter as almost six miles of hiking along Parris Brook, with a high-point view south of Route 165. Arcadia also has a newer landmark. Young Boulder, a troll sculpture built from reclaimed wood by the recycle artist Thomas Dambo, is one of three in Rhode Island, and State Parks lists it as one of Arcadia's draws. The orange requirement applies on all of these trails.

Arcadia is shared ground. State Parks lists hunting next to hiking, mountain biking, horseback riding, birdwatching and freshwater fishing as permitted activities, and it says leashed dogs are welcome. A few other rules apply to the people and animals on those trails:

• Dogs. On management-area roads and trails, dogs may be walked on a leash no longer than 25 feet, according to the state lands rules.
• Bikes. DEM's 2026 wildlife management area guidance says riders must stay on established trails and asks them to wear orange.
• E-bikes. The same guidance prohibits e-bikes on wildlife management areas.
• Horses. Riders are named directly in the State Parks orange requirement, and the Reynolds Horseman's Area has its own separate rules.

This post is general information, not legal advice. DEM's published rules control, so check the linked documents yourself before heading out.

Five miles in Exeter where hunting isn't permitted

With firearms seasons running every day through December 31, Exeter's other large walking property matters more this winter than it did last year. The Audubon Society of Rhode Island's Fisherville Brook Wildlife Refuge at 99 Pardon Joslin Road covers 1,010 acres with 5 miles of easy-to-moderate trails, and it is open sunrise to sunset. Audubon lists "Hunting, fishing or trapping" among the activities not permitted on its refuges.

The same list rules it out for some Arcadia regulars. Audubon does not permit dogs, horses or other pets, or bicycles beyond the parking lot. Fisherville Brook is a December option for people on foot. Anyone walking a dog is still on Arcadia's calendar.

What it offers instead is terrain unlike Arcadia's pond loops. Audubon calls it its largest public property, with fields, upland beech forest, white cedar swamp, kettle ponds and streams. Bridges cross a small waterfall, and there is a historic cemetery on the grounds. Audubon notes that it is a popular winter spot for snowshoeing and cross-country skiing, and the parking area has a portable restroom. To get there, take Route 102 north and turn right onto Widow Sweets Road just past the Exeter Town Clerk's Office. Take the second right onto Pardon Joslin Road and drive about a mile. The lot is on the right.

On the other side of town, Yawgoo Valley at 160 Yawgoo Valley Road says its 2026–27 snow season is expected back in December 2026. If that holds, Exeter's December will offer three kinds of winter outing: Arcadia's trails under the full shotgun-season orange rule, Fisherville Brook's trails with no hunting at all, and snow on the slopes off Yawgoo Valley Road.

January brings Arcadia back to its lighter rules

The firearms calendar ends on December 31. From January 1, Zone 2 has only archery season, which closes January 31, and Arcadia's requirement drops back to 200 square inches until the last day of February. For anyone who plans a walk to Stepping Stone Falls over the holidays, New Year's Day is the first day this season without a firearms deer season in Arcadia. Last year, that point came on December 15.

For four generations, our family has watched calendars like this one shape life in towns such as Exeter. At Christina Phipps, we follow those changes closely so our neighbors don't have to dig for them. If you're thinking about how life on the edge of Arcadia's woods fits your next move, we'd be glad to talk it through. Schedule a Consultation, and we'll bring the local detail.