# Amherst College Family Weekend, November 6 to 8, 2026: three campus walls at sunset and a grandstand at sunrise to photograph, and the light in the town of Amherst between them > Amherst College Family Weekend, November 6 to 8, 2026: the walls on the campus that line up with the low sun that weekend, what to do in the town of Amherst between them, times in Eastern Standard Time, where to stand, and the spot for the family picture. This is the Markdown form of https://hengedays.com/articles/buildings-to-photograph-amherst-family-weekend-2026, with the same words as the page. Part of [Family Weekends 2026](https://hengedays.com/articles/family-weekends-2026), school 24 of 26. Previous school: [University of Georgia](https://hengedays.com/articles/buildings-to-photograph-uga-family-weekend-2026). Next school: [Princeton University](https://hengedays.com/articles/buildings-to-photograph-princeton-family-weekend-2026). *The Tennis Barn on East Drive, the first wall in the list, in Henge Days. Pink marks the wall the sun lines up with on Family Weekend afternoons, at 4:05 to 4:08 PM Eastern Standard Time.* For November 6 to 8, 2026. Family Weekend at Amherst College runs from Friday, November 6, to Sunday, November 8, 2026. Henge Days checked the buildings on the campus and in the town center for a wall that the rising or setting sun lines up with on those days. Three campus walls line up with the late-afternoon sun, and a grandstand at Pratt Field gets the morning sun a little higher. No wall in the town has both the light and a public place to stand. Post your pictures with #HengeDays. In this article - [The weekend's schedule and the light](#the-weekend-s-schedule-and-the-light) - [Part 1: the Amherst College campus](#part-1-the-amherst-college-campus) - [Part 2: the town of Amherst](#part-2-the-town-of-amherst) - [Low sun](#low-sun) - [How the list was made](#how-the-list-was-made) - [How to read each entry](#how-to-read-each-entry) Daylight saving time ends on November 1, so every time in this guide is Eastern Standard Time (EST). The sun rises at 6:29 AM on Friday and 6:32 AM on Sunday, at 111 to 112 degrees, and sets at 4:37 PM on Friday and 4:34 PM on Sunday, at 248 degrees. ### The weekend's schedule and the light Amherst College's own pages did not load from where this guide was written, and on October 17 the search-engine summaries of them showed only the schedules of earlier years. So this guide names no 2026 events. The list below gives the light by day, all times EST: the morning walls come before the day's first events, and the afternoon walls end with the sunset, at about 4:35 PM. Check the college's Family Weekend page for the schedule and plan around it. - Friday, November 6: sunrise at 6:29 AM. At 7:18 AM the grandstand at Pratt Field gets the sun square on, 7.4 degrees up (Low sun). In the afternoon, the Tennis Barn on East Drive at 4:05 PM, then Plimpton House at 4:25 PM and Tyler House at 4:28 PM, both on the hill north of Main Street. Sunset is at 4:37 PM. - Saturday, November 7: sunrise at 6:30 AM. The Pratt Field grandstand at 7:17 AM, 7.1 degrees up. The middle of the day is for the town center (Part 2). In the afternoon, the Tennis Barn at 4:06 PM, the family picture spot, then Plimpton House at 4:26 PM and Tyler House at 4:30 PM. Sunset is at 4:35 PM. - Sunday, November 8: sunrise at 6:32 AM. The Pratt Field grandstand at 7:16 AM, 6.7 degrees up. For families who stay into the afternoon, the Tennis Barn at 4:08 PM, Plimpton House at 4:27 PM and Tyler House at 4:31 PM. Sunset is at 4:34 PM. Nothing in this guide is a Family Weekend event. Every stand point is a campus walk or lawn open to visiting families, and each entry says what to stay off. ### Part 1: the Amherst College campus Three walls, all for the late afternoon. The first is on East Drive, on the east side of the campus. The other two are residence halls on the hill north of Main Street, by Lessey Street and Tyler Place, and they line up with the sun on the horizon. The fourth campus entry, the grandstand at Pratt Field, is under Low sun. #### 1 Tennis Barn Amherst College, Amherst, Massachusetts Wall west-southwest, facing 243° Sun The low evening sun lines up with this wall on Nov 6 to 8. Best: Sunday, November 8 at 4:08 PM, 3.9° above the horizon. Leaves The state Department of Conservation and Recreation map projected that by October 27 all of Massachusetts shows peak color or is just past it ([WHDH](https://whdh.com/news/dcr-map-tracks-fall-foliage-in-massachusetts/)). Ten days after that, expect the trees in Amherst past peak, with many branches bare. Where to stand Across the drive from the wall, on the grass west-southwest of the building, with the sun behind you. Stay off the drive. Golden light on Friday at 4:05 PM, 4.7 degrees up, on Saturday at 4:06 PM, 4.3 degrees up, and on Sunday at 4:08 PM, 3.9 degrees up, all EST. Nothing in the outlines stands in the way, and all 18 m of the wall is in the sun. Trees are not in the check and can take the light a few minutes early. Computed from the building outline and the sun's position, and not checked on the ground. Clear view Clear. No building in the map data rises above the sun (3.9° up) in its direction. A college building at 100 East Drive, on the east side of the campus about 350 m south-east of the Science Center. OpenStreetMap names it the Tennis Barn. The wall that lines up is its west-southwest side, 18 m long, with a drive along it and open ground beyond. *The building page in Henge Days. The highlighted walls face 243°, toward the sunset on the days in the row below; every wall carries its bearing.* - **Tue, Nov 3 to Fri, Nov 20, 2026**18 evenings · best Fri, Nov 20 **4:22 PM** Golden sunset, sun 0° up WSW 243° wall Its row in the Henge days list, with the time of the head-on moment on the best day. Save keeps that day in your planner, which can send it to your calendar app. Saving asks you to sign in with an email link; there is no password. *The year for every wall of the building. Each row is a wall; the colored runs are its henge, golden and low-sun days.* [Open this wall in Henge Days](https://hengedays.com/at/42.36808,-72.51108?q=Tennis+Barn%2C+100+East+Drive%2C+Amherst%2C+MA&b=osm%2Fway%2F217241081&facade=0&d=2026-11-03) Family photo spot. The Tennis Barn on Saturday at 4:06 PM EST, half an hour before sunset. Stand the family a few steps out from the west-southwest wall, at the edge of the grass and off the drive, facing the sun. Stand on the grass west-southwest of them with the sun behind you. The light is low and warm on their faces and on the wall behind them, with nothing in the outlines in its way. On Friday it comes at 4:05 PM and on Sunday at 4:08 PM. Post it with #HengeDays. Computed from the building outline and the sun's position, and not checked on the ground. #### 2 Plimpton House Amherst College, Amherst, Massachusetts Wall west-southwest, facing 247° Sun The setting sun lines up with this wall on Nov 6 to 8. Best: Sunday, November 8 at 4:27 PM, 0.8° above the horizon. Leaves The state Department of Conservation and Recreation map projected that by October 27 all of Massachusetts shows peak color or is just past it ([WHDH](https://whdh.com/news/dcr-map-tracks-fall-foliage-in-massachusetts/)). Ten days after that, expect the trees in Amherst past peak, with many branches bare. Where to stand On the lawn west-southwest of that wall, with the sun behind you. Stay off Tyler Place, Lessey Street and the neighbors' yards. The sun lines up with the wall on Friday at 4:25 PM, 1.5 degrees up, on Saturday at 4:26 PM, 1.1 degrees up, and on Sunday at 4:27 PM, 0.8 degrees up, all EST. The Clark House stands toward the sun and rises 2.9 degrees in the outlines, so the check finds none of the wall in the sun. Its height is an estimate, within 3 degrees of the sun. If the house is lower than the estimate, the wall gets the last light. Computed from the building outline and the sun's position, and not checked on the ground. Clear view Blocked by The Clark House, which rises 2.9° toward the sun (height estimated); the sun is 0.8° up. An Amherst College residence hall at 82 Lessey Street. It was built in 1914 as the Delta Kappa Epsilon fraternity house and became a college dormitory, named Plimpton House, in 1984 ([Historic Buildings of Massachusetts](https://mass.historicbuildingsct.com/?p=4106)). OpenStreetMap names it Plimpton Hall. The wall that lines up is a short one, 13 m, on its west-southwest side. *The building page in Henge Days. The highlighted walls face 247°, toward the sunset on the days in the row below; every wall carries its bearing.* - **Fri, Nov 6 to Tue, Nov 10, 2026**5 evenings · best Tue, Nov 10 **4:30 PM** Henge sunset, sun on the horizon WSW 247° wall Its row in the Henge days list, with the time of the head-on moment on the best day. Save keeps that day in your planner, which can send it to your calendar app. Saving asks you to sign in with an email link; there is no password. *The year for every wall of the building. Each row is a wall; the colored runs are its henge, golden and low-sun days.* [Open this wall in Henge Days](https://hengedays.com/at/42.37754,-72.51548?q=Plimpton+Hall%2C+Amherst+College%2C+Amherst%2C+MA&b=osm%2Fway%2F217241812&facade=4&d=2026-11-06) #### 3 Tyler House Amherst College, Amherst, Massachusetts Wall west-southwest, facing 247° Sun The setting sun lines up with this wall on Nov 6 to 8. Best: Sunday, November 8 at 4:31 PM, 0.3° above the horizon. Leaves The state Department of Conservation and Recreation map projected that by October 27 all of Massachusetts shows peak color or is just past it ([WHDH](https://whdh.com/news/dcr-map-tracks-fall-foliage-in-massachusetts/)). Ten days after that, expect the trees in Amherst past peak, with many branches bare. Where to stand On the lawn west-southwest of the hall, with the sun behind you. Stay off Tyler Place, Kellogg Avenue and the yards and lots downhill. The sun lines up with the wall at the horizon: on Friday at 4:28 PM, 1.0 degree up, on Saturday at 4:30 PM, 0.6 degrees up, and on Sunday at 4:31 PM, 0.3 degrees up, all EST. A building at 33 Kellogg Avenue stands toward the sun and rises 2.1 degrees in the outlines, so the check finds none of the 28 m in the sun. Its height is an estimate, within 3 degrees of the sun. Friday, with the sun highest, has the best chance. Computed from the building outline and the sun's position, and not checked on the ground. Clear view Blocked by Building at 33 Kellogg Avenue, which rises 2.1° toward the sun (height estimated); the sun is 0.3° up. An Amherst College residence hall on Tyler Place, between Lessey Street and Kellogg Avenue, on the site of the house of Professor William S. Tyler, which stood on Oak Grove Hill ([Digital Amherst](https://digitalamherst.org/items/show/170)). Its west-southwest walls, 28 m in all, face a lawn and look toward the town center. *The building page in Henge Days. The highlighted walls face 247°, toward the sunset on the days in the row below; every wall carries its bearing.* - **Thu, Nov 5 to Mon, Nov 9, 2026**5 evenings · best Mon, Nov 9 **4:32 PM** Henge sunset, sun on the horizon WSW 247° wall Its row in the Henge days list, with the time of the head-on moment on the best day. Save keeps that day in your planner, which can send it to your calendar app. Saving asks you to sign in with an email link; there is no password. *The year for every wall of the building. Each row is a wall; the colored runs are its henge, golden and low-sun days.* [Open this wall in Henge Days](https://hengedays.com/at/42.37788,-72.51604?q=Tyler+House%2C+Amherst+College%2C+Amherst%2C+MA&b=osm%2Fway%2F217242047&facade=3&d=2026-11-05) ### Part 2: the town of Amherst The town center is a few minutes' walk north of the Main Quad, around the Town Common. South Pleasant Street runs along the Common's west side to Amity Street. On Amity Street are Amherst Cinema at number 28 and the Jones Library, the town's public library, at number 43. Town Hall is at 4 Boltwood Avenue, on the Common. The Emily Dickinson Museum, the poet's house and her brother's next door, is at 280 Main Street, east of the Common. North Pleasant Street leads north past Kendrick Park toward the University of Massachusetts. Between a morning on the campus and the afternoon light, this is where to walk and eat. No wall in the town is in the list. South Pleasant Street and North Pleasant Street run close to north and south, so the shop fronts around the Common face east and west, and this weekend's sun meets them at an angle. The walls in town that do line up are on side streets, with a taller neighbor in the way or no public place to stand in line with them. How the list was made names them. The Tennis Barn is about 850 m south-east of the Common, a walk of about 12 minutes, so leave the town by 3:50 PM for its light. ### Low sun Few walls get golden light this weekend. This one gets the morning sun square on when the sun is 6 to 10 degrees up, higher than in golden light, so the color is less warm and the shadows are shorter. #### 4 Grandstand at Pratt Field Amherst College, Amherst, Massachusetts Wall east-southeast, facing 120° Sun The morning sun lines up with this wall, 6 to 10° up, on Nov 6 to 8. Best: Sunday, November 8 at 7:16 AM, 6.7° above the horizon. Leaves The state Department of Conservation and Recreation map projected that by October 27 all of Massachusetts shows peak color or is just past it ([WHDH](https://whdh.com/news/dcr-map-tracks-fall-foliage-in-massachusetts/)). Ten days after that, expect the trees in Amherst past peak, with many branches bare. Where to stand The sun is 6 to 10 degrees up at these times. Stand on the path east-southeast of the grandstand's end, toward Orchard Street, with the sun behind you. Stay off Orchard Street, the field and the track. Low sun on Friday at 7:18 AM, 7.4 degrees up, on Saturday at 7:17 AM, 7.1 degrees up, and on Sunday at 7:16 AM, 6.7 degrees up, all EST. A building at 43 Hitchcock Road rises 2.6 degrees toward the sun in the outlines, under the sun, and its height is an estimate. The sun reaches 16 m of the 20 m. Computed from the building outline and the sun's position, and not checked on the ground. Clear view Clear. No building in the map data rises above the sun (6.7° up) in its direction. The grandstand at Pratt Field, the college's football field and track on the west side of the campus, by Orchard Street. OpenStreetMap maps it as a long grandstand with no name. The wall that lines up is its east-southeast end and three short steps along its north side, 20 m in all. *The building page in Henge Days. The highlighted walls face 120°, toward the sunrise on the days in the row below; every wall carries its bearing.* - **Tue, Oct 20 to Tue, Dec 1, 2026**43 mornings · best Tue, Dec 1 **7:01 AM** Low sun sunrise, sun 0° up ESE 120° wall Its row in the Henge days list, with the time of the head-on moment on the best day. Save keeps that day in your planner, which can send it to your calendar app. Saving asks you to sign in with an email link; there is no password. *The year for every wall of the building. Each row is a wall; the colored runs are its henge, golden and low-sun days.* [Open this wall in Henge Days](https://hengedays.com/at/42.36942,-72.52403?q=42.36942%2C-72.52403&b=osm%2Fway%2F650236524&facade=14&d=2026-10-20) ### How the list was made Henge Days computed every building within 300 to 400 meters of 14 points: the Main Quad with Johnson Chapel and the first-year dorms, Converse Hall with Frost Library and Valentine Hall, Keefe Campus Center with the Mead Art Museum and the Beneski Museum of Natural History, the Science Center, the Greenway dorms, Pratt Field and the athletics buildings on South Pleasant Street, the east side of the campus on East Drive, the halls on Lessey Street, the Town Common and Boltwood Avenue, South Pleasant Street and Amity Street, the Emily Dickinson Museum, Main Street east to Triangle Street, Kendrick Park and North Pleasant Street, and Amity Street west of the center. It used OpenStreetMap outlines. It kept named buildings with a wall of 8 m or more, and unnamed buildings with a wall of 20 m or more, where the sun lines up with the wall within 10 degrees of the horizon on at least one day from Friday, November 6, to Sunday, November 8. Up to 6 degrees counts as golden light, and 6 to 10 degrees as low sun. It then traced the sun's path from each wall against every outline fetched for this guide. For each wall kept, it fetched one more search, centered 400 m out along the sun's path, and checked the view again. The scout found 19 walls that line up within 10 degrees of the horizon on these days, 15 of them in the town. The buildings of the Main Quad, Frost Library, Keefe Campus Center, the Mead, the Beneski, the Science Center, Valentine Hall and the Greenway dorms have no wall that the sun meets head-on within 10 degrees of the horizon on these days. Most campus walls face close to the compass points, and this weekend the sun rises at 111 to 112 degrees and sets at 248. Three walls and the grandstand are in the guide, because the checks and the access rules leave no more. Plimpton House and Tyler House are in it although the check finds them blocked, because the only building in the way has an estimated height within 3 degrees of the sun. - Left out because the stand point is private: the office building at 409 Main Street, east of the Emily Dickinson Museum. Its 52 m east-southeast side gets golden light on Saturday at 7:09 AM and Sunday at 7:08 AM with a view the check finds clear, and the sun reaches 26 m of it. On the map that side faces the building's own lot and a service drive, with no public sidewalk in line with it. - Left out because a building stands well above the sun: Mercy House on North Pleasant Street (7.1 degrees against a sun 0.2 degrees up), One East Pleasant (its own wing), the buildings at 219 and 260 Amity Street, 615 Main Street and 70 Northampton Road, Fieldstone Slate (its own wing), and Hillel House on North Pleasant Street (an estimated 2.2 degrees against a sun 0.1 degrees up, at the edge of the searched area). - Left out because they may be homes: two buildings at 126 and 132 to 134 Northampton Road, which get low sun with a clear view, and 10 Allen, an 8 m wall off North Pleasant Street. OpenStreetMap gives them no type, and they stand among houses. The Kappa Kappa Gamma sorority house is a residence, and a dormitory toward the sun blocks it as well. - Left out because the use and the stand point are not clear from the map: a 59 m building off Grove Street in East Amherst, about 1 km east of the Common, in a street of houses and apartment buildings. Hills and trees are not part of that check, and the times assume a level horizon. The hills west of the Connecticut River can take the last minutes before sunset. Where an outline carries no height, the check estimates about 6 m for a house or a shop, 10 m for an apartment building, a school or a church, and 7 m for other buildings. Every date and time comes from the Henge Days engine for the wall's own bearing, in Eastern Standard Time. ### How to read each entry Each entry shows the building as Henge Days shows it. The map marks the building's outline from OpenStreetMap, gives every wall its compass bearing, and highlights the wall that lines up with the sun. Below it are the wall's row from the building's Henge days list, with a Save button that keeps the best day in your planner, and a year of head-on days for every wall. The Clear view line is the result of the check for other buildings on the best day. Any building has a page like the ones above, your student's hall included. Whatever you shoot, post it with #HengeDays: [Look up a building](https://hengedays.com/) [Open your planner](https://hengedays.com/planner) ### Sources - [Amherst College: Family Weekend (did not load from where this guide was written)](https://www.amherst.edu/campuslife/families/family-weekend) - [Historic Buildings of Massachusetts: Plimpton House, Amherst College (1914)](https://mass.historicbuildingsct.com/?p=4106) - [Digital Amherst: residence of Professor William S. Tyler in Amherst](https://digitalamherst.org/items/show/170) - [WHDH: state map tracks fall foliage in Massachusetts](https://whdh.com/news/dcr-map-tracks-fall-foliage-in-massachusetts/) - [Building outlines: OpenStreetMap contributors](https://www.openstreetmap.org/copyright) ### The newsletter Henge Days also has a newsletter. It covers what each release of the site adds and how to use it, and the buildings the #HengeDays community photographs in head-on light. [Read it on Substack](https://hengedays.substack.com/). The address goes to Substack, which sends the email and asks you to confirm. Henge Days does not keep it. --- Every date and time on Henge Days is computed from a building outline in OpenStreetMap and the position of the sun. Nobody has checked it on the ground. Hills, trees and other buildings can block a low sun. Treat each date as a plan to confirm before you travel. See https://hengedays.com/terms.md. Henge Days is free to use; sign in only to save days to a planner. Contact: hello@hengedays.com.