Nearby, Sophia Masciarelli walks beneath the pines with her four-year old border collie, Clover, using the same forest’s trails to unwind after work.

“I think it’s really important for our individual and collective well-beings to spend time in green spaces,” said Masciarelli, the Duke Office of Climate and Sustainability’s Engagement Coordinator. “I feel so lucky that we have access to a space like Duke Forest.”

Since 1931, the Duke Forest has served as a living laboratory and outdoor classroom. During the 2024-25 fiscal year, the 7,100-acres forest supported 71 research projects, 39 Duke teaching activities and 150 class visits.

While research and education are its main purpose, from the beginning, the Duke Forest has also been envisioned as a place where the community can enjoy the benefits of nature.

In Duke Forest’s first bulletin, published in 1935, founder Dr. Clarence Korstian wrote that recreation held an “important place” in responsible forest management and encouraged people to experience the woods firsthand.

“By means of well-controlled recreational activities people will learn the values inherent in the forest and the precautions necessary to protect these values,” Korstian wrote.

Ahead of National Trails Day on the first Saturday of June, here’s how to explore the Duke Forest while helping to protect one of Duke’s most valuable natural resources.

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Explore 30 Miles of Trails and Roads Responsibly

For Duke Community Affairs Senior Director of Communications Michelle Benham, the trails of Duke Forest are an ideal place to slow down and appreciate nature.

Benham, who often hikes in the Durham Division, said the forest’s different landscapes – visitors can encounter creeks, floodplains, rolling hills and prairie-like habitats – mean there’s always a wide variety of trees and wildlife to enjoy.

“Every trail is a little bit different,” Benham said. “I love the ecosystem of the Piedmont, and Duke Forest is such a good place to experience all of the trees and birds that live here.”

For those who want to experience nature, the Duke Forest has around 30 miles of well-maintained gravel roads and foot trails. Visitors can request free maps showing locations of access gates, gravel roads, foot trails, creeks and topographic contours, from Duke Forest. The Duke Explore app also allows visitors with cellular data devices to track their location in real time, making it easier to navigate the forest.

Novice hikers are encouraged to start their Duke Forest exploration with the Shepherd Nature Trail, a short loop featuring interpretive signage that offers a glance into the forest’s history and its landscape.

Unlike parks built for recreation, the Duke Forest  primarily serves other purposes that visitors should keep in mind.

Duke Forest Executive Director Sara Childs said research takes place throughout the forest, and even small disturbances can disrupt scientific work. That’s why visitors must follow a few important rules and regulations, including keeping their dogs leashed, staying on designated roads and trails and leaving plants and animals untouched.

“We want people to have a sense of responsibility when they recreate in the Duke Forest,” Childs said. “We want them to know that how they show up matters and to embrace their agency in helping protect all the incredible benefits the forest provides. All it takes is following a few basic rules, which helps cultivate respect for the forest environment, its inhabitants and all of its visitors.”

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Rent a Picnic Shelter

As Administrative Coordinator and Assistant to the Director of Graduate Studies in Duke’s Department of Physics, Terrika Outing helps organize major department events, including the annual fall picnic.

For the past few years, the department has gathered at the Duke Forest’s R.L. Rigsbee Shelter, where students, staff, faculty and friends and family bonded over food, games and time outdoors.

“It’s a perfect setting,” Outing said. “There’s a place to sit and relax under the shelter. People can just grab a seat and have different conversations about life in the department and their research. It’s just a great spot for us.”

The Duke Forest has two shelters available to rent by reservation for personal or work gatherings off Highway 751. Both shelters, which cost $100, are close to West Campus in the Durham Division and feature tables and grills, and space for 50 to 75 people. The Rigsbee Shelter has electricity, an outhouse and a sand volleyball court while the Bobby Ross Jr. Memorial Shelter is located near the trail head of the popular Shepherd Nature Trail.

“They’re both just lovely,” said Childs, the Duke Forest’s Executive Director. “They are great spots. You feel like you’re in the middle of the woods, surrounded by this towering canopy of trees.”

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Give Your Time

Jason Elliott first encountered the Duke Forest in 2011 as a Nicholas School of the Environment graduate student, venturing into the woods to measure and inventory trees or identify plants.

Now Duke’s Assistant Director of Strategy and Administration for the Office of Climate and Sustainability, Elliott hikes the trails in the Korstian Division.

This year, he joined the Forest Stewards Program, visiting an assigned trail twice a month to check for maintenance needs, collect litter and greet visitors.

Along with the Forest Stewards Program, the Duke Forest also offers opportunities for community members to learn more about the landscape and its wildlife through Herpetofauna Community Science Program. Registration for both programs will be available in early 2027.

“From the get-go, the Duke Forst has educated me so, so much,” said Elliott, who also took part in a community science project in 2025. “Being able to give back and be part of this program is just wonderful."

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