A Walk in the Woods: Enjoy Free Sculpture Park

Animals, a sculpture by Tony Jimenez of Costa Rica.

Fall in New England offers a perfect reason to spend a day outside. Take a day trip to Southern New Hampshire to enjoy world class sculpture for FREE and get some exercise while you’re at it. Brookline, New Hampshire – slightly more than an hour’s drive northwest of Boston – is home to Andres Institute of Art, which is billed as the largest sculpture park in New England. Follow trails along the small (yet strenuous in places) Big Bear Mountain and view dozens of stone and metal sculptures by artists from around the world. Check out the studio tucked in the woods – there just might be artists at work.

Art in the Great Outdoors

The institute was founded more than 10 years ago, and serves as a public venue for sculpture. The grounds are open from dawn to dusk year round – and admission is FREE. (Donations are welcome). Hikers may share certain trails with mountain bikers and snowmobilers come winter time.. Choose among a dozen trails to spend an hour or most of a day on a self-guided hike. A short jaunt to the summit affords views of the surrounding Hillsborough County.

Print a Map and Go

For first timers, best print out a trail map available on the Institute’s website prior to arrival. While there are trail signs, a map provides the best guide to the sculpture locations as well as estimates of the time required for each trail. Keep in mind that times are estimates – you may find yourself dwelling longer should you get lost in artistic contemplation as you meander along the forested trails.

Andres Institute of Art