Hopkins Forest
How to Get There
From the Williams Campus, go north on Route 7. Turn left on Bulkley Street (0.3 miles past the rotary); follow Bulkley Street for 0.75 miles until it ends at the junction with Northwest Hill Road. Turn right onto Northwest Hill Road. The entrance to the forest is 100 yards down the road and is marked by a wooden sign.
- Estimated walking time: 15-25 minutes
- Estimated driving times: 5 minutes
What's There
There are 15 miles of hiking trails in the forest; most popular are a 1.6 mile lower loop and a 2.6 mile upper loop that start just past the Rosenburg Center. These trails are groomed for cross-country skiing in the winter (when there's sufficient snow), though they can be dangerous in icy conditions for inexperienced skiiers because of the long downhill stretches. No bicycles, please.
The Rosenburg Center is the main building just inside the entrance to the forest and hosts many of the events that take place in the forest. The Hopkins Memorial Forest sponsors many events throughout the year that are open to the public, usually for free, and are announced in the Daily Messages or by the CES listserve. Especially popular are the Hopkins Memorial Forest Fall Festival, with opportunities to participate in splitting wood, making apple cider, and touring the forest canopy, and Maple Sugar Days, when you can help make maple syrup. There are also opportunities to participate in banding owls, finding salamanders and frogs, and animal tracking.