One of my favorite parts about living at EMU has been having access to all the great areas to walk around campus. Especially now that the leaves are changing gorgeously and the weather is a little crisper, I wanted to review my favorite walking routes to give you a little inspiration to explore the area immediately around us!
Some general notes: I have four total routes in the area immediately around campus (two in this paper and two to be published in the next.) Because I live on campus, all routes can begin from the Woods Quad area (by the ‘–wood’ residence buildings), though you can really start anywhere on campus (or off!). Finally, much of the distance covered actually utilizes public roads. Be aware of cars, bikers, and other pedestrians, etc. Road safety!
Walking Route Number 1: “Summit”
While many of the other routes make good use of the roads to the north of campus; the “Summit” route makes use of the south. I tend to think of this walk beginning up on Smith Avenue by the Seminary and Heatwole buildings, but someone starting from the Woods Quad (or anywhere else on campus) can easily navigate their way to the south-west corner using campus paths. From the Seminary building, this route crosses the street (practice good road safety; no, I’m not your mom, but I’ll remind you anyway) continuing on Smith Avenue. Moving past the chain that bisects the road, pedestrians can use the sidewalk to traverse all the way until the intersection with Greystone Street. (College Road can also be used, since it also intersects with Greystone, but I always use the route previously described.)
After a right turn, “Summit” continues up the side of Greystone Road up to the aptly named Summit Avenue. From here, the route is customizable: one can turn left or right on Summit Ave, or both. The route I’ve illustrated goes left until the public road ends, then backtracks and goes right until the public road ends, before turning around to retrace down the hill and back to campus. Although this section of the route makes use of roads exclusively (as opposed to sidewalks), I haven’t found there to be very much traffic on this stretch. Pedestrians walking on public roads should always be aware of vehicles, bikers, and everyone else using the space.
This route is the most strenuous of the four because of its steep inclines and declines. Depending on the pace and optional doubling-back, this walk takes an estimated 45-60 minutes, is of the highest difficulty, and mostly utilizes the roads. This walk isn’t the most conducive to conversation but is still fun to do with friends, and allows glimpses of the gorgeous western landscape in the gaps between houses.
Walking Route Number 2: “EMU Hill”
This route utilizes our familiar campus hill and the surrounding streets for some quick inclines and enjoyable views.
I tend to think of this walk as beginning at the bottom of the hill itself (1200 Park Road, behind the West entrance to Campus Center), but someone starting from the Woods Quad area could easily navigate their way to the back of the campus center using campus paths.
To begin, this route goes up the Heishman trail (the paved path) to the top. If I have time to stop and enjoy the view, I hike either out to the bench up at the fire pit at the highest point of the hill, to the bench behind the discipleship center, or I follow the paved road past the yellow gate and up to the base of the water tower to sit.
When I’m ready to continue, I follow the route out along Hillcrest Drive (which I haven’t found to be too busy, but, unfortunately, it doesn’t have sidewalks–practice road safety!) all the way until it ends in the cul-de-sac.
I like to loop around this curve so I stay on the left side of the road and double back to descend on Upland Drive road, which you’ll happen upon first, or Parkway Drive. Either will lead pedestrians back to both College Avenue and Park Road, though which all of campus can be accessed; choose according to where you want to end up. Dogwood drive features the steepest descent and is adjacent to Hillside Suites.
This route does feature a steep incline in the beginning (up the hill) and a somewhat steep decline, depending on where you descend – Parkway Drive is steeper than Upland Drive–and is conducive for walking with friends because of the intuitive doubling back the cul-de-sac allows (or maybe I should say mostly conducive–it’s pretty hard to hold a full–blown conversation while fast-walking up the hill.) This route is also the closest to campus, making it the quickest; depending on your pace, this walk would take 30-40 minutes. While there aren’t sidewalks (unless you choose to return to campus via Park Road), the roads featured on this route don’t have much traffic. I would rank this at moderate difficulty.
Tag us on Instagram trying out these walks or forging your own, (as always) practice road safety when walking on public lanes, and get out there to enjoy the beautiful fall nature around us!