Art on the Trails 2026 on Beals Preserve
The Southborough Open Land Foundation, in collaboration with Southborough Artist Catherine Weber, is pleased to present the 10th Annual Art on the Trails at the Elaine and Philip Beals Preserve. This year’s theme is Time in the Landscape.
Art on the Trails is an annual juried exhibition of sculptural installation. Each summer, artists install original works along the preserve’s trails, where they remain on public view from June through September. The program, which is free and open to all, also features an accompanying poetry component: community poets visit the preserve, respond to the installed works with original poems, and join artists at a closing reading and reception each fall. Selected art and poetry are published together in a full-color annual chapbook. Learn more about the program here.
This year the program runs from June 13 through September 13. View a map of the installation here.
Saturday Work Days Underway
We’ve started our 2026 Saturday volunteer workdays and would love your help maintaining our properties and trails. Projects include removing invasive plants, clearing and maintaining trails, improving roadside appearance, and other seasonal tasks. We rotate among our accessible properties throughout the season. View the calendar here. To sign up, go to https://solf.org/volunteer/ and follow the link to signup genius or simply send an email to info@solf.org telling us you want to join in. Looking forward to having you pitch in!
Connecting with SOLF! Challenge
April 2026 – SOLF owns and cares for nearly 200 acres of open space in town, including the popular Beals Preserve, yet few have visited our other locations, all of which help us “preserve, protect, and enhance the natural resources” in town. This puzzles us! So, we challenge you to visit 9 other SOLF properties! Look for our signs with the red rooster! PLEASE NOTE: One puzzle per family!
Here’s what you do: Using clues below, visit the 9 properties listed below and, at each, find a treasure box. Once you do, leave a message in the small notebook and take one unique, 3D-printed, puzzle piece. After you’ve collected all 9 unique pieces, assemble them and tell us what you see! Email a photo of the puzzle (and a few selfies from your visits!) to info@solf.org, and for completing the challenge, we’ll send you $15 towards a meal at Southborough House of Pizza or ice cream at Uhlman’s Ice Cream. You choose. You earned it! The first six people to complete the challenge get an additional promo item/coin from Uhlman’s! PLEASE NOTE: One puzzle per family!
Need help finding SOLF open spaces? Check out the Our Properties section on our website. Have questions or need help? Email us at info@solf.org.
Here are the locations and clues!
Big Oak Woods: head toward the sign, take the path a short spell, then look back, behind the old rock wall where the huge tree fell!
Bigelow Wildlife Refuge: about 20 ft past the sign, you’ll find a prize in raspberries!
Clark Grove: as you climb the path, the box is at the top boulder!
Eastbrook Farmlands: go past the grapes, and take a path to the water!
Kallander Woods: take a walk past our Valley Rd rooster and look near the pond!
Lambert Corner: stop and look under the holly across from the stream!
Lynbrook Hollow: look behind the wall by the brook!
Nipmuc Trail Woods: walk the Nipmuc beaten path and find the boulder by the brook!
Templeman Woods: it’s back at the Watkins plaque!
Be Our Eyes
As you walk our properties, you can help us by being extra eyes. Email us at info@solf.org if you see something like a tree across a trail, or a broken signpost that needs repair. Thank you!
Help SOLF in its mission – Volunteer, Steward
Volunteers and stewards help us fulfill our mission to preserve, protect, conserve, and enhance the natural resources in the Town of Southborough. Love the outdoors? Want a a way to combine your love of the outdoors with some community service?
SOLF proudly owns and cares for 15 properties comprising over 190 acres. Become a volunteer and work alongside board members and other volunteers to help with trail maintenance, invasive plant control, sprucing up entrances, and more. Become a steward for one of our properties, and you can be our eyes, walking trails if they exist, and making note of any problems in general.
Please contact us at info@solf.org if you are interested in joining our volunteer list and/or becoming a steward. Thank you!
SOLF Board Meetings
SOLF usually meets the second Wednesday of the month, from 7 – 9 pm, current location at Pilgrim Church. You are welcome to join us and hear about maintenance projects and programs we are planning. Contact us at info@solf.org for more information. Check our calendar for changes.
