Fall Cleanup to be held on Saturday, October 17th
The Friends of Whitehall‘s fall lake and trail clean-up will be held on Sat. Oct.17th
2026 from 9 a.m. until 12 noon. We will gather at the boat landing parking lot at
Whitehall State Park on Wood St. (rte.135) and be assigned areas of trails and
shoreline around the lake to clean up debris and refuse. We will work on both the
DCR state trails and the Whitehall Conservation Area trails. We will also clean up
some of the roadsides near the lake. Gloves, trash bags, tools, bug spray and
water will be provided. We strongly suggest wearing long sleeved shirts and long
pants to avoid mosquito bites. We will also have coffee and donuts available for
volunteers. We will be working with the approval of the Department of
Conservation and Recreation. This is a wonderful opportunity to help your
community and we hope you will join us. If the threat of West Nile Virus or EEE
increases in our area we will cancel the clean-up.
The Friends of Whitehall started in 2005 and have had clean-ups since then.
FOW’s main mission is to preserve, protect and improve the wonderful natural
resource of Lake Whitehall and its environs. We are proud of our many
accomplishments which are cited on our website www.friendsofwhitehall.org.
Even if you do not live in the immediate area around the lake, we would love to
have your help and also to consider joining our organization. Membership forms
can be downloaded from our website. We are also on Facebook.
We hope you will help with the clean-up on Saturday, Oct. 17th and that you will
consider becoming a member of FOW. We are a non-profit 501c (3) organization.
Archaeological Tour of Hopkinton Springs Hotel Sunday October 11, 2026
*** New Date Due to Rain Forecast ***
Friends of Whitehall is hosting this short educational hike on Sunday October 11th at 3:00 PM. The Hopkinton Springs Hotel and its medicinal mineral springs opened in 1820. The hotel was one of the first resorts in New England and attracted both the sick and wealthy vacationers from Boston and beyond. The complete history and locations of the hotel and its springs will be discussed in the first part of the presentation at the intersection of Spring Street and Lyford Rd. The remainder of the tour will take participants down a slightly inclined trail of about 200 yards to the mineral springs locations for more discussion and questions. Please park on either side of the straight section of Lyford Rd.
Special author event held on Sunday, October 26, 2025
In October of last year, at the Hopkinton Public Library, FOW held an author event with Brad Timm on his recently (2024) published book, Wildlife Out Your Window: Fascinating Facts About 100 Animals Commonly Seen in the Northeastern U.S. Here are a couple of photos from that event. Click on the thumbnail for a larger image.
Coyotes are active around Whitehall State Park
There have been some reported sightings of coyotes around Whitehall. Here are some guidelines about coyotes that you should be familiar with:
https://www.mass.gov/info-
Photos from the Friends of Whitehall Annual meeting held on April 2, 2025
Here is a link to the photos, taken by John Cardillo, from our annual meeting.
https://photos.app.goo.gl/9E4oF2xuQjGC4R298
New trail bridges built near Pond St.
The SCA (Student Conservation Association) built a bridge over wet areas on the DCR (Department of Recreation and Conservation) trail off of Pond St. This project was applied for by forest ranger Richard Trubiano of Hopkinton State Park DCR headquarters and was one of six chosen by SCA out of sixty applicants. The Friends of Whitehall provided the funding of $2000 for the materials for the project. The bridge will be approximately 30’ long and help make the trail much more accessible FOW worked with DCR two years ago by providing the funding for a bog bridge on the trail off of Winter St. The current project will take about five days. The five volunteers camped out at DCR headquarters on Cedar St while they worked on the project.
The Student Conservation Association is a national youth organization that is
based in Charlestown NH and does volunteer projects all over the country. It was
founded in 1957. Click on the thumbnails below for a larger image.
2025 Annual Appeal Letter from our president
Click here to read the annual appeal letter from our president.
Friends of Whitehall funds bog footbridge construction project
Two years ago Friends of Whitehall identified an almost impassable portion of the Whitehall perimeter trail along the eastern shoreline. It was a quagmire full of rocks, roots, vines, peat, and deep water for a lengthy stretch of what used to be a trail. We decided to apply by written letter to the Student Conservation Association (SCA) headquartered in Rowe, MA in hopes they would accept the project of building a bog bridge at the site. The SCA is a valuable resource for the hands-on conservation service they provide to state and national parks throughout the United States. SCA accepted our project and scheduled it for the following summer. Then the pandemic hit and we were put on hold. The project came to fruition in September 2021 when a group of 5 SCA volunteers came to Whitehall State Park ready to go to work. Sponsored by DCR and guided by Park and Forest Supervisor Rich Trubiano, the group of young people worked enthusiastically and tirelessly constructing the 60 foot long bog bridge. Friends of Whitehall paid for the materials used for the bridge and it took the volunteers a week to finish the project in less than ideal conditions. They worked in humid, rainy weather with muck up to their knees and even had to make a dash into a local barn to avoid a fast moving thunder storm. FOW, with the support of DCR, will continue to help maintain the trail system in and around the lake and volunteers are always welcome to be a part of our conservation efforts. (Click on thumbnail for a larger image)
Commercial dog walkers now must have a permit to use DCR parks
Starting in 2019 all commercial dog walkers using any DCR park for their businesses MUST have an annual permit. Please click here to see more information regarding these permits and other requirements that commercial dog walkers must abide by when using Whitehall and other DCR parks.