Campus Spotlight: Exeter Trails

By LAUREN LEE, SAM ALTMAN, and JINMIN LEE

      Imagine getting a C- on your most recent physics test. You are presented with a few options as you barely find the courage to walk out of the science building. You could go sit alone in your room or take a quick hike on the Academy’s trails. “Trails?” you may ask. “I’ve only heard of them, but are they worth visiting? Where even are they?”

      But you muster up the courage to ask around where you can find these mystical paths. You walk toward the Field House, continue past the outdoor tennis courts, cross the bridge, take a right turn down the path, and stand in front of the entrance of the Exeter Trails, where magical healing powers lie.

      “We have about 850 acres of woodlands south and east of the main campus, and for management purposes, they are arranged into five different tracts: the Stadium Tract, the Gilman Tract, the Gillespie Tract, Jude’s Pond Tract, and the Colby Farm Tract. Additionally, what a lot of people don’t know is that the Academy also owns 425 acres of land west of campus in Fremont,” Manager of Sustainability and Natural Resources Warren Biggins said.

      Biggins continued, “In my job, I manage the maintenance of the trails in addition to working on various trail improvement and forestry projects. When I first started at PEA, I’d often talk to people who would tell me that they had been out on the trails before, but also that they had gotten lost. Because of that, I prioritized creating a new map of all of our woodlands in much higher detail than we had previously. The trails talso are now color-coded with blazes marked on trees throughout so that it’s easier to navigate.

      “I loved working with Mother Nature,” Keith Humphrey, the former trails maintenance manager, recalled. “I love being out in the woods. I enjoy listening to the birds out there, seeing all the paintings that Mother Nature provides between the brush and the trees and the broken branches and the beautiful streams, and bridges out there. When I was working full time and working out there, I would just take a radio with me, my clippers and saws, and spend the day out there in the afternoon just cleaning them up.”

      Because the trails are so vast, some Exeter residents have favorite spots. “I enjoy the horseshoe-shaped ring outside of the football field with the little plaques. It’s a very calm place, with a lot of animals running around. Especially if no teams are practicing, it can be very quiet,” upper Jacques Leleux said.

      “You need to go visit the Frog Pond,” Humphrey emphasized. “If you walk out there on the main trail, there’s a little marker like no one knows. It’s like a gate, a fence post silver. So there’s a bench out there right now where people can go and just chill, meditate, or do some homework. It’s tranquil and off the beaten trail.”

      “One place that I’m interested in is Jude’s Pond. It was actually named after Jude Hall who was born into slavery but became a Revolutionary War hero and won his freedom. After he returned, he settled in Exeter and had something like ten children. Years later Jude’s grandson, Moses Uriah Hall, would go on to become the first African-American to attend Exeter. He also fought in the Civil War. Recently, we were contacted by a local archaeologist and they said that they think Jude Hall’s homestead is actually located on PEA land, and so we’re looking into possible excavations,” Biggins said.

      The woods are also full of wildlife native to New England. “There’s all sorts of animals out there: birds, beavers, ospreys, coyotes, all sorts of fish, and more. It’s honestly an incredible resource for the Exeter community because it’s rare to be able to be so close to campus and have it feel so remote and in nature. We also have an animal wildlife observation blind down near Colby farm. People come from all over the town and the North-Eastern seaboard to use our trails and see the wildlife.”

      “I think I’ve seen a few deer around,” senior Chris Serrao mentioned. “But even without the animals, at such a busy place like Exeter, it’s useful to have time to just walk around, meditate, and be grateful for the world we live in.”

      During fall, one may hear thundering footsteps in the distance, weird chants, or extraterrestrial sights of the cross-country team. For runners, these trails are their territory and home.

      “I go to the Exeter trails a lot as a part of cross country and track practice,” senior Advay Nomula, captain of the Boys’ cross-country team, explained. “We’ll use them for warming up, cooldowns, workouts, and during the cross-country season, we might race through them during home meets.”

      “I’ll go out to the trails and I’ll run a few easy miles out there,” lower Ethan Benenson said. “It’s really beautiful out there, especially in the morning.”

      Although more information could be given, the cross-country trail lore is strictly confidential and classified. Join the team to learn more.

      However, many non-runners elect to explore the trails in their free time as well. “The paths have been one of my favorite places to frequent during my time at Exeter, and I regret not spending more time wandering about them,” Serrao said. “I’ve learned a lot about identifying plants and witnessed the diversity of the flora and fauna around us. I think it’s quite magnificent that we have such amazing property on our right in our backyard, like five, ten minutes walking distance away from us.”

      “When I go out to the trails, I seem to walk and walk and never find the end. It’s as if the trails go on forever,” Leleux added. “I like to walk and think. Sometimes I’ll sit at a bench, bring a cup of tea, have a nice moment, and look at squirrels. It’s great to be in nature, to be one with the community.”

      Though students find solitary walks particularly meditative, Serrao believes that the trails can be a site for community-building and connection. “I would say it’s a great social activity to do on the weekends. I remember many times my friends and I used to go and explore the forest and watch birds and squirrels. Together, we would admire the beautiful foliage.”

      Serrao continued, “I’d recommend for all students to just spend a couple of weekends every term, just going out and exploring the nature that’s right in our backyard. I think a lot of students struggle with mental health issues here, and I wish that we would explore the option of giving students nature walks or making it a PE possibility. I think there’s so many applications that you can apply in pretty much all the departments.”

      The Academy is also constantly working on different projects throughout the trails. “We try to have maps at all the major intersections and entrances to the trail. Other than that, we’ve been working with the Town of Exeter recently to drill groundwater test-wells in the woodlands so that the community can have more access to drinking water. We’re also considering making space for a solar array that could generate as about 45% of the campus’s electricity,” Biggins said.

      It would be nice if there were small foldable maps that people could take to navigate the harder loops,” Nomula agreed. “Other than that, more loops for diversity would be nice, but the trails are pretty nice as is. Red loop could use a couple bridges here and there.”

      Go take a walk for leisure or healing or studying or meditating or forgetting your most recent assignments. Go before more Exeter implements new changes so you can get a before-and-after. Study the birds, the trees, the ponds—but most importantly yourself. You will go into the trails and come back out as a different person. “As the many hours I spent over the years working on the cross-country trails when I worked on the athletic grounds crew department,” Humphrey said. “I have spent even more hours enjoying them.”