Visitors to Rhode Island often focus on its charming cities like Providence and Newport, but, in fact, this small state covers large rural areas, including wooded parks, nature preserves, and meadows where farmers tilled the soil for hundreds of years. These plentiful rural areas – to the western border with Connecticut and the southern border with the Atlantic and in the East Bay region tucked against Massachusetts -- are crisscrossed with paths where horseback riding is allowed. Equestrians also may ride in many of the state-managed parks, from Lincoln Woods in the north to Burlingame in the southern part of the state.