About 20 inches on Block Island and the southeastern bay shore, 40 to 55 inches in the west
Sand driving, and the paperwork around it
The useful course in Rhode Island is soft-sand driving and soft-sand recovery, taught against the coastal council’s own equipment list and its ten mile an hour limit, five when approaching anyone on foot. Riding on or driving from any position outside the vehicle is prohibited, and headlights are required between sunset and sunrise.
The state also requires a recreational vehicle safety course for all first-time buyers and for every operator under sixteen, with proof carried whenever the machine is off private property.
Training is the cheapest upgrade there is. It costs less than a bumper, weighs nothing, and works on every vehicle you will ever own.
Common courses
01Driving: line choice, throttle and brake control, airing down, spotting
02Recovery: safe rigging, winching and kinetic recovery
03Field repair: tires, fluids, electrical faults and improvised fixes
04Navigation and communication
05Wilderness first aid
How to choose a course
Small classes and real terrain.
01Ask about class size and how much time you spend driving rather than watching.
02Ask whether you train in your own vehicle. You should.
03Ask about the instructors' certification and how long they have been teaching.
04Ask what terrain the course uses, and what to bring.
Why it is worth it
A trained driver breaks less, gets stuck less and recovers more safely. Most vehicle damage on the trail comes from speed and poor line choice, and most recovery injuries come from rigging that someone guessed at.
Questions people ask
I have driven dirt roads for years. Is a course worth it?
Most experienced drivers say the recovery day alone was worth it. Rigging a winch pull safely is not something to work out for the first time when you are stuck.
Do I need a built vehicle to attend?
No. Most introductory courses are designed for stock four-wheel-drive vehicles, and learning what a stock vehicle can do is the point.
How high is Rhode Island?
From Galilee at 5 feet to Jerimoth Hill at 812.
Altitude decides what your engine, your brakes and your lungs have to work with, and how late in the year the passes open.
02,000
Feet above sea level
Towns
West GreenwichBig River, Wickaboxet and Tillinghast, one exit off the interstate546 ft
ChepachetThe village at the George Washington Management Area gate428 ft
CoventryThe eastern side of Big River and Nicholas Farm426 ft
PascoagBurrillville services for Buck Hill and Black Hut422 ft
ExeterThe northern approach to Arcadia on Ten Rod Road272 ft
WyomingOn Route 138 between Arcadia and the Carolina area115 ft
Hope ValleyThe Arcadia headquarters village, and the nearest fuel to the area82 ft
PawtucketOld Slater Mill and the Blackstone park headquarters39 ft
WesterlyMisquamicut, Woody Hill and the Quonochontaug sand trail37 ft
NewportAquidneck Island services, and the way to Sachuest Point28 ft
CharlestownBurlingame, the Breachway and the East Beach sand trail22 ft
New ShorehamBlock Island itself, about twelve miles offshore20 ft
ProvidenceThe one full-service city, and the last of it before the western woods9 ft
JamestownConanicut Island, Beavertail and a bridge at either end8 ft
WakefieldSouth Kingstown services, and the coastal council’s own office6 ft
GalileePoint Judith, the state boat ramp and the year-round island boat5 ft
Passes, high roads and summits
Jerimoth HillThe state high point, in Providence County. USGS publishes 812 feet; our own reading of the elevation surface at its map point gives 811812 ft
Durfee HillOur own reading of the elevation surface at its map point, in Providence County, above the 2,466-acre management area of the same name805 ft
Buck HillOur own reading of the elevation surface at its map point, in Providence County, above the 3,192-acre management area of the same name736 ft
Bald HillOur own reading of the elevation surface at its map point, in Kent County629 ft
Beacon Pole HillOur own reading of the elevation surface at its map point, in Providence County544 ft
Mount TomOur own reading of the elevation surface at its map point, in Washington County. The Arcadia motor route includes a Mt. Tom Road431 ft
Tower HillOur own reading of the elevation surface at its map point, in Washington County183 ft
Pass, road and summit elevations are the figures published by the agency that manages them. Town elevations are the town’s or county’s own
figure where it publishes an exact one; the rest are from the U.S. Geological Survey (3D Elevation Program at the place’s official coordinates),
retrieved September 18, 2026. Every source is listed at the foot of the page.
