Princeton Univ Xmas Hike + Town, Inst Adv Studies + Art Museum Tour

4 hours, 7-9 miles, Princeton University Campus, Town, Institute of Advanced Studies, & Temple of Doom Bridge. We will also take a tour of the newly reopened Art Museum.

This is one of my favorite hikes because the architecture of campus buildings is spectacular both inside and out. On weekdays we usually have access to all the buildings. On weekends many of the buildings are closed.
We never know what we will find inside the buildings including an electric touch piano that takes up a full 30x30 room or an Olympic water polo game in progress at the natatorium. At the on campus church we often can listen to the choir rehearsing Christmas Carols.

We'll take a loop around the town, stopping at a few stores for coffee and bathrooms. The cemetery right off campus has the remains of some notables like the infamous Aaron Burr and many former Princeton Presidents including one signers of the Declaration of Independence, John Witherspoon. Sometimes we skip this.

We 'll then head to the Institute of Advances Studies Forest via the Graduate School Bldg which houses the 35 bell carillon. One bell weighs in excess of 12,000 lbs. We might hear a bit of a concert on the way back.

At the Institute we'll pass areas that were filmed in the Oppenheimer movie, then head for the Institute Forrest to find (what I call) The Temple of Doom Bridge. We'll then head back to Art Museum for a 1 hour tour.
We may do the hike in reverse or different order because of construction or weather or Art Museum tour time which are only given at 1 and 3 on Sunday. Access to the Museum is free and we just visit without the tour. The tours in the past have been very worthwhile.

Note: North Garage on the map is now called Prospect St Garage. But there is no Prospect St Garage on the map as yet.

Carpooling
To carpool from Hill House (201 W Evergreen Ave, Phila) meet 1 hour before the event. Carpool time changes if hike time changes. Text me (267 629-2134) 3-4 days in advance.

GENERAL RULES : ••Hike at my pace. ••Hike lengths are approx: allow 30min -1hr extra. ••Donation requested. All monies donated to recreational charities like Natural Lands and the Friends of Wissahickon. •• For ~360 events each year donate $20 (2025), $30 for 2 or family or donate $5 for each event. ••Pay in person or at Zelle (215 247-4459). Thanks. The yearly donation goes down to $15 July-Aug; to $10 in Sept-Nov; Dec new year.