After recent hikes that involved scrambling up Connecticut’s rocky ridges and stumbling down boulder-strewn ravines, it was a relief to hit the trail the other day in Rhode Island, where sandy paths covered with pine needles made for happy feet.

“Soft and smooth. I’ll take it,” said Phil Plouffe, as he, Andy Lynn and I strolled through the 600-acre Grills Wildlife Sanctuary in Hopkinton. About two thirds of the Ocean State’s soil formed from glacial till, creating an ideal surface for easy hiking.

Don’t get me wrong, trails that ascend steep ledges and hug the edge of precipitous overhangs can be exhilarating – especially if you don’t slip – but it’s hard to enjoy the view when you’re concentrating on your footing.

No such distractions while ambling along the Tomaquag Trail, which departed from a small, unpaved parking lot off Chase Hill Road. We followed white-diamond blazes through a muddy cornfield before entering a lush forest of white pine, oak and beech.

In a short distance, we crossed narrow Wine Bottle Brook, passed an intersection with the yellow-blazed East Loop Trail, and then turned right onto the Cedar Swamp Trail, which is marked with orange-rectangle blazes.

Next, we turned right onto the Peninsula Trail, marked with yellow-diamond blazes, passed a picnic area, and crossed a bridge and boardwalk that spans Tomaquag Brook and a surrounding marsh. Tomaquag means “place of beavers” in the language of the Narragansett tribe, whose members roamed the region long before European colonists arrived in the 17th century.

We passed numerous stone walls, old foundations and other remnants of past inhabitation. A sign at the beginning of the sanctuary implores visitors not to disturb these vestiges.

It reads, “Across America, archaeological and sacred sites are the fragile remains of thousands of years of human history on the landscape. It is a heritage that we all share. It is important for us to share the joy of discovery tempered with responsibility for the stewardship of these sites.”

Thus, modern-day visitors should not move rocks, sit or climb on walls or dig near these sites.

After crossing Tomaquag Brook, we could have continued on the Tomaquag Trail toward the Pawcatuck River, and then crossed the Polly Coon Bridge onto the 550-acre Grills Preserve, owned by the Westerly Land Trust.

Phil, Andy and I had previously hiked trails in the Westerly preserve, so decided to stay in the Hopkinton sanctuary, which we were visiting for the first time.

Both properties were once owned by Richard Grills of Westerly, who operated the now-shuttered Bradford Dyeing Association. Environmental authorities had cited this business, which grew from a small textile mill in the early 1900s to a 500,000-foot complex that manufactured military uniforms, for discharging industrial waste into the Pawcatuck River.

The tracts now are permanently protected as conservation areas, along with a third nearby Grills Preserve, owned by the Hopkinton Land Trust.

After crossing Tomaquag Brook, we began a steady climb that led past a picnic area to a knoll that featured an expansive vista of surrounding woodlands – quite a departure from the flat, swampy terrain we encountered at the beginning of our hike.

After admiring the view, we turned around and more or less retraced our steps, taking a roundabout route because a section of trail had flooded during recent heavy rains. Let’s hope things dry out later this spring.

We wound up hiking about 3½ miles – a nice, short walk that could easily have been extended by looping through the Grills Preserve in Westerly. Connections between preserves enhance their value – not only for humans, but for wildlife.

A map of the sanctuary, and other information, is available on the Hopkinton Land Trust website, https://hlt-ri.org. More information about the Westerly Land Trust is available at westerlylandtrust.org.