If you know me, you know I like to relax.
With the weather getting warmer and my motivation for schoolwork evaporating, I’ve found myself slowly migrating out of the library. One minute it’s a “quick study break,” the next I’m speed-walking across campus carrying a Hop salad and absolutely no books.
Life at Dartmouth often feels like sprinting a marathon — go to class, meet with your project group, speed-run your readings, pull an all-nighter, repeat. But if you slow down and actually look around, there are a surprising number of places that invite you to just stop, sit and breathe.
Some are better than others, though. So after a few weeks of extensive field research — wandering around procrastinating — here’s my definitive ranking of the best spots on campus to relax. So sit back, and, well, relax.
5. Pine Park
I had high hopes for Pine Park. Everyone talks about it like it’s this hidden gem, and technically it is — if you can find it and have the stamina of a varsity athlete.
The first time I finally made it there, it was gorgeous: tall pine trees, winding trails, a light, Christmassy smell in the air. But it was huge. I wasn’t casually chilling. I was on an expedition. There is a map there, for crying out loud.
In my freshman fall, my club field hockey team captain scheduled a run at Pine Park, but the running route was nothing like the 8-lane track I was used to in high school. Pine Park is roughly six miles of hills, dips and turns. By the final hill, I knew that despite its beauty, I wouldn’t be returning to Pine Park anytime soon.
4. The Green
Ah, the Green. The official place to relax at Dartmouth. The default center of campus life.
Save for maybe the fifth floor of the Stacks, the Green is the single most stress-inducing place on campus. Is this because I treat a diagonal walk through the Green as my personal runway where everyone is looking at me? Probably.
On paper, the Green is amazing. Wide open space! Friends lounging everywhere! Sun! Frisbees!
The fact that this is the “default” place to chill means that everyone is always there. Finding your friends is like playing “Where’s Waldo,” except every Waldo is wearing khakis and a Patagonia vest. You can’t sit for three seconds without getting hit by a frisbee, and walking through groups on the Green is like going around landmines.
Also, you always say you’re going to “do work” on the Green. You bring a full backpack with you as if you’re going to accomplish anything. Five hours later, you’ve eaten a croissant, spilled coffee on your tote bag and read exactly four sentences of your assigned reading.
The Green gets points for vibes, and loses points for the logistics and sunburns.
3. The Hop Porch
If you’re reading this and thinking, “Wait, what is the Hop Porch?” That’s fair. Half the reason it’s ranked so high is that no one knows it exists. Because I am always discovering new underground and underappreciated things.
There is a certain magic that exists in this weird, little semi-hidden patio outside the Hop, where you can almost always find an empty table.
Also: Food proximity. You’re steps away from the Hop, meaning you’re probably eating something elite — like a custom salad loaded with quinoa and avocado, or a side of fries that everyone wants to steal from.
It’s also right next to the Lodge, which is where I live. And probably why I’m ranking it so high.
2. Occom Pond
I am so obsessed with Occom Pond that I plan on devoting seven hours of my day in the near future to ‘woccoming’ a marathon.
My trippee and I have always been determined to hike the Fifty — not for any athletic reason, but because we hiked Mount Cube together during orientation and figured, “Why not do 45 more miles of that?” In the likely event we never actually hike the Fifty, we’ve decided to do the next best thing: 26 laps around Occom Pond. Supported or unsupported — we’ll see.
Occom Pond’s therapeutic powers extend beyond the scenic houses perched on hilltops, the ducks swimming in its waters and the Dartmouth Outing Club house. It’s where you go when you want to forget about life’s endless stressors for thirty minutes.
Occom is also sneakily versatile. You can do one loop or three. You can do two loops in one day. You can sit on one of the benches. You can even rent skates in the winter.
There has never been an argument with a friend that hasn’t been at least somewhat resolved with a Woccom.
And it’s close enough to campus that you don’t feel like you need a daypack and a survival kit to get there — looking at you, Pine Park.
1. Collis Porch
Collis Porch is a lifestyle.
Picture this: It’s 1:30 pm on a Tuesday. It’s 75 degrees, partly cloudy. You are sitting at a wobbly metal table, eating the tofu stir-fry you waited 30 minutes for. You sat down with one person, but now there are three other adjacent friends who have joined your table too.
What sets Collis Porch apart from other campus dining spots is its lack of structure. At the Class of 1953 Commons, you’re committing to a meal. At Novack, you’re probably working. The Hop is for rushing between classes. But Collis Porch? Collis Porch is for loitering. For running into people. For lingering long after your food is gone. It’s casual in a way that nowhere else really is.
But it’s not without its flaws. The Porch only thrives during good weather, which means it’s a spring and summer luxury. It also gets crowded fast — seats disappear before you even get your order, and there’s always a risk you’ll be baking in the sun or caught in a breeze that sends napkins flying.
Still, there’s something about it. Collis Porch is one of the only places on campus where there’s no pressure to be productive. In fact, there is pressure to be unproductive.
In the end, that’s what relaxing at Dartmouth really is: not escaping campus life, but leaning into it.
