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Outdoor Action

Leadership Starts Here

Nature Viewing

Nature Viewing

Mountain Lakes Open Space Area

The Mountain Lakes Open Space Area, a “central park” in Princeton, consists of some 400 acres just north of the center of town, most of it open to the public. It has a wide variety of hiking trails- and two biking trails – some connecting to other trails outside of the area described here. Along with views of Tusculum, the estate built by John Witherspoon, and historic Coventry Farm, it features a great variety of open fields, several small streams and lakes, old stone walls, boulder fields, and old growth pine and hardwood forests. The area is divided into five sections: The Billy Johnson Mountain Lakes Preserve, including the Mountain Lakes House; Mountain Lakes North; John Witherspoon Woods; the Tusculum fields; and Community Park North. Most of the remainder of Tusculum, to the east, and Coventry Farm, to the west, is private open space.

Institute Woods

The Institute for Advanced Study Woods and Charles H. Rogers Wildlife Refuge form a 300-acre tract of deciduous forest bounded on the east side by the wet woodlands and marsh of the Refuge. Though crisscrossed by a network of trails and a sewer right-of-way, the Woods include a small area of virgin forest and harbor an unusual number of bird species, particularly during the songbird migration seasons. For this reason, the Woods are described in many birding guides and hiking books, and birders from all over the country come to visit.