# Trinity College Family Weekend, October 23 and 24, 2026: the Long Walk and six buildings to photograph on campus and in Hartford > Trinity College Family Weekend, October 23 and 24, 2026: six walls in downtown Hartford that line up with the low sun, when to be there around the weekend's events, where to stand for the family picture, how the light falls on the Long Walk and the dates its walls line up. This is the Markdown form of https://hengedays.com/articles/buildings-to-photograph-trinity-college-family-weekend-2026, with the same words as the page. Part of [Family Weekends 2026](https://hengedays.com/articles/family-weekends-2026), school 12 of 26. Previous school: [University of Rhode Island](https://hengedays.com/articles/buildings-to-photograph-uri-family-weekend-2026). Next school: [Fairfield University](https://hengedays.com/articles/buildings-to-photograph-fairfield-family-weekend-2026). *The Connecticut State Capitol, the first building in the list, in Henge Days. Pink marks the wall the sun lines up with on both Fall Weekend mornings.* For October 23 to 24, 2026. Fall Weekend at Trinity College, its Homecoming and Family Weekend, runs on Friday, October 23, and Saturday, October 24, 2026. No wall on campus lines up with the low sun on those two days. This guide lists the six walls in downtown Hartford, about 2 miles north, that do, with the times, a spot for the family picture and the dates the Long Walk lines up. Post yours with #HengeDays. In this article - [The weekend's schedule and the light](#the-weekend-s-schedule-and-the-light) - [Part 1: The campus](#part-1-the-campus) - [Part 2: Downtown Hartford](#part-2-downtown-hartford) - [How the list was made](#how-the-list-was-made) - [How to read each entry](#how-to-read-each-entry) - [Plan a trip of your own](#plan-a-trip-of-your-own) On Saturday the sun rises at 7:13 AM and sets at 5:55 PM. Every time in this guide is US Eastern. All six walls are golden days: at the head-on moment the sun is 2 to 6 degrees up, 12 to 37 minutes after sunrise or before sunset. ### The weekend's schedule and the light Trinity's own site did not load when this guide was written, on October 17. The dates come from the College's 2026-27 academic calendar, and the events from the Fall Weekend page of the Office of Alumni Engagement, both as a web search returned them. That page calls its schedule tentative. The search summary gave the times below but cut off before the morning items, and it did not reach Saturday's program. It did not name the day of each item. Jum'ah and Kabbalat Shabbat are Friday services, and the list puts the items that fall between them on Friday too. Check the schedule at [trincoll.edu/alumniandfamilies/homecoming](https://www.trincoll.edu/alumniandfamilies/homecoming/) before you plan around it. - Friday, October 23: Fall Weekend begins. Sunrise is at 7:12 AM and sunset at 5:57 PM. Downtown, Hartford Square North lines up at 7:27 AM, the Hartford Public Library at 7:29 AM, the State Office Building at 7:42 AM, the Legislative Office Building at 7:47 AM and the State Capitol at 7:48 AM. All five are within 1.5 km of each other. - Friday, October 23, noon to 1:30 PM: the Environmental Sciences "McCook Out" lunch, with a $10 fee paid at registration. After the morning walls downtown, campus is a 10-minute drive back. - Friday, October 23, 1:00 PM: Jum'ah service. - Friday, October 23, 1:30 to 3:30 PM: library tours and an open house. - Friday, October 23, 4:30 to 5:30 PM: Career Connections, for alumni, families, students and the Career and Life Design team. Also at 4:30 PM: the Swimming and Diving alumni meet. At 5:00 PM the sun is 9 degrees up in the west-southwest, and late light reaches the Long Walk's front on the Main Quad. - Friday, October 23, 5:30 to 8:00 PM: Kabbalat Shabbat service and dinner. The only evening wall in this guide, the Connecticut Convention Center, lines up at 5:20 PM, about 2.5 km from campus. On Friday that leaves no time. Go on Saturday. - Saturday, October 24: the search reached no events. The morning walls line up one or two minutes earlier than on Friday: Hartford Square North at 7:25 AM, the library at 7:27 AM, the State Office Building at 7:41 AM, the Legislative Office Building at 7:46 AM and the Capitol at 7:47 AM, the family photo spot below. In the evening, the Convention Center lines up at 5:21 PM. ### Part 1: The campus The campus buildings stand on one grid. Seabury Hall, Northam Towers and Jarvis Hall on the Long Walk, the Chapel, the Raether Library and Mather Hall all have walls that face 86 or 87 degrees and 266 or 267 degrees. The Crescent Street townhouses and the Summit Street dorms face 79 to 81 degrees and 259 to 261 degrees. This weekend the sun rises at 105 degrees and sets at 255 degrees, so it never stands square to any of those walls. The scout found no named building on campus, in Frog Hollow or around Pope Park with a wall the sun lines up with on October 23 or 24. The Long Walk's front faces west-southwest over the Main Quad, at 267 degrees. On Friday and Saturday afternoons the sun is 9 degrees up at 5:00 PM and 4 degrees up at 5:30 PM, at 245 and 250 degrees, 17 to 22 degrees off square. That light falls across the Quad onto the front of the Long Walk at a low angle. The dates below are when the sun stands square to the campus walls, from the same engine. The check for other buildings is not part of them. - The Long Walk's west front, Seabury Hall, Northam Towers and Jarvis Hall, at sunset: March 14 to 16, 2027, at 6:51, 6:49 and 6:47 PM, and September 27 to 29, 2027, at 6:31, 6:32 and 6:34 PM. - Mather Hall and the Raether Library, their west walls at sunset: March 13 to 15, 2027, at 5:51, 6:49 and 6:47 PM (the clocks move forward on March 14), and September 27 to 30, 2027, at about 6:30 PM. - The east walls of Jarvis Hall, Northam Towers, Mather Hall and the Raether Library, at sunrise: March 26 to 28, 2027, at about 6:47 AM, and September 15 to 17, 2027, at about 6:38 AM. Seabury Hall's east wall follows from March 31 to April 2, 2027, at about 6:40 AM. - The Trinity College Chapel, its east wall at sunrise: March 28 to 30, 2027, at 6:42, 6:44 and 6:45 AM, and September 13 to 15, 2027, at 6:37, 6:35 and 6:33 AM. For a campus picture this weekend, stand on the Main Quad with the Long Walk behind the family between 5:00 and 5:30 PM. The sun is then low behind the photographer and to the right. These times come from the sun's position alone. Trees on the Quad and buildings west of it are not part of them. ### Part 2: Downtown Hartford Downtown Hartford is about 2 miles north of campus by Broad Street, a 10-minute drive. The State Capitol stands at the south edge of Bushnell Park, and four of the six walls are on or near the park. The Wadsworth Atheneum, the Old State House and the Travelers Tower are a few minutes' walk east of it, on Main Street. Between Friday's events, and on Saturday when the search reached none, downtown is where to walk. The five morning walls line up between 7:25 and 7:48 AM, so one morning covers all of them. #### 1 Connecticut State Capitol Hartford, Connecticut Wall east-southeast, facing 111° Sun The low morning sun lines up with this wall on Oct 23 to 24. Best: Saturday, October 24 at 7:47 AM, 5.3° above the horizon. Leaves A forecast issued September 25 put peak color around October 18 in most of Connecticut, give or take five days ([More Than Just Parks](https://morethanjustparks.com/foliage-tracker/connecticut)). UConn Extension expected the peak in mid- to late October ([Connecticut Public](https://www.ctpublic.org/news/2026-09-17/cts-peak-fall-foliage-expected-to-be-later-and-more-vibrant-than-usual-this-year)). Where to stand The wall is the east end of the Capitol. Stand on the lawn or the footpaths of the Capitol grounds, east-southeast of the wall, with the sun behind you. Stay off the drive that circles the building. The sun lines up with the wall at 7:48 AM on Friday and 7:47 AM on Saturday, 5.8 and 5.3 degrees up. These are golden days: at the head-on moment the sun is 2 to 6 degrees up. A building in front of it has no height in OpenStreetMap. The check assumed one and found its roofline at 4 degrees, below the sun on both days. Computed from the building outline and the sun's position, and not checked on the ground. The Capitol is built of New England marble and granite and crowned by a gold-leaf dome ([State of Connecticut](https://portal.ct.gov/about/state-symbols/the-state-capitol)). Richard M. Upjohn designed it, and it was finished in 1878 ([Historic Buildings of Connecticut](https://historicbuildingsct.com/category/building-type/public-buildings/page/22/)). It stands at the south edge of Bushnell Park. *The building page in Henge Days. The highlighted walls face 111°, toward the sunrise on the days in the row below; every wall carries its bearing.* - **Fri, Oct 23 to Thu, Nov 5, 2026**14 mornings · best Thu, Nov 5 **6:30 AM** Golden sunrise, sun 0° up ESE 111° 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/41.76414,-72.68229?q=Connecticut+State+Capitol%2C+Hartford%2C+CT&b=osm%2Fway%2F28678350&facade=15&d=2026-10-23) Family photo spot. Stand the family on the Capitol grounds a few steps out from the east-southeast wall, turned partway toward the camera. The photographer stands east-southeast of them, with the sun low behind and to one side, which lights faces and the marble behind them in the same warm light. Go on Saturday at 7:47 AM, when the sun is lowest, or on Friday at 7:48 AM, about four hours before the McCook Out lunch on campus. Post it with #HengeDays. Computed from the building outline and the sun's position, and not checked on the ground. #### 2 Legislative Office Building Hartford, Connecticut Wall east-southeast, facing 111° Sun The low morning sun lines up with this wall on Oct 23 to 24. Best: Saturday, October 24 at 7:46 AM, 5.1° above the horizon. Leaves A forecast issued September 25 put peak color around October 18 in most of Connecticut, give or take five days ([More Than Just Parks](https://morethanjustparks.com/foliage-tracker/connecticut)). Where to stand The wall is the building's east side, facing the Capitol. Stand on the walk along that side, east-southeast of the wall, with the sun behind you. Stay out of the road beyond the walk. The sun lines up with the wall at 7:47 AM on Friday and 7:46 AM on Saturday, 5.6 and 5.1 degrees up. These are golden days: at the head-on moment the sun is 2 to 6 degrees up. The Bushnell South Parking Garage rises toward the sun, but its roofline stays at 1.8 degrees, below the sun on both days. Computed from the building outline and the sun's position, and not checked on the ground. The Legislative Office Building at 300 Capitol Avenue, west of the Capitol, holds the offices and hearing rooms of the General Assembly's members. *The building page in Henge Days. The highlighted walls face 111°, toward the sunrise on the days in the row below; every wall carries its bearing.* - **Fri, Oct 23 to Thu, Nov 5, 2026**14 mornings · best Thu, Nov 5 **6:28 AM** Golden sunrise, sun 0° up ESE 111° 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/41.76395,-72.68448?q=Legislative+Office+Building%2C+300+Capitol+Avenue%2C+Hartford%2C+CT&b=osm%2Fway%2F31032301&facade=4&d=2026-10-23) #### 3 State Office Building Hartford, Connecticut Wall east-southeast, facing 110° Sun The low morning sun lines up with this wall on Oct 23 to 24. Best: Saturday, October 24 at 7:41 AM, 4.3° above the horizon. Leaves A forecast issued September 25 put peak color around October 18 in most of Connecticut, give or take five days ([More Than Just Parks](https://morethanjustparks.com/foliage-tracker/connecticut)). Where to stand The wall is the building's east side, between Capitol Avenue and Buckingham Street. Stand on the walks and lawn east of it, with the sun behind you. The sun lines up with the wall at 7:42 AM on Friday and 7:41 AM on Saturday, 4.8 and 4.3 degrees up. These are golden days: at the head-on moment the sun is 2 to 6 degrees up. Buildings east of it have no height in OpenStreetMap. The check assumed one and found the highest roofline at 1.3 degrees, below the sun on both days. Computed from the building outline and the sun's position, and not checked on the ground. A seven-story limestone building at 165 Capitol Avenue, finished in 1931 and renovated from 2018 to 2020. It houses the state's constitutional officers among other agencies ([Connecticut Department of Administrative Services](https://portal.ct.gov/das/das-facilities/165-capitol-ave)). *The building page in Henge Days. The highlighted walls face 110°, toward the sunrise on the days in the row below; every wall carries its bearing.* - **Wed, Oct 21 to Tue, Nov 3, 2026**14 mornings · best Tue, Nov 3 **6:26 AM** Golden sunrise, sun 0° up ESE 110° 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/41.76188,-72.68090?q=State+Office+Building%2C+165+Capitol+Avenue%2C+Hartford%2C+CT&b=osm%2Frelation%2F12429120&facade=5&d=2026-10-21) #### 4 Hartford Public Library Hartford, Connecticut Wall east-southeast, facing 107° Sun The low morning sun lines up with this wall on Oct 23 to 24. Best: Saturday, October 24 at 7:27 AM, 2.0° above the horizon. Leaves Downtown's street trees follow the state's color. A forecast issued September 25 put peak color around October 18 in most of Connecticut ([More Than Just Parks](https://morethanjustparks.com/foliage-tracker/connecticut)). Where to stand The wall is the library's east side, on Prospect Street. Stand on the sidewalk on the far side of Prospect Street, east-southeast of the wall, with the sun behind you. The sun lines up with the wall at 7:29 AM on Friday and 7:27 AM on Saturday, 2.5 and 2.0 degrees up. These are golden days: at the head-on moment the sun is 2 to 6 degrees up. A low building in front of part of the wall has no height in OpenStreetMap. The check assumed one and found 49 of the wall's 51 m in the sun on both days. Computed from the building outline and the sun's position, and not checked on the ground. The Hartford Public Library moved from the Wadsworth Atheneum to 500 Main Street in 1957. An expansion and renovation that added about 145,000 square feet was completed in 2007 ([Hartford Public Library](https://www.hplct.org/about/library-history)). *The building page in Henge Days. The highlighted walls face 107°, toward the sunrise on the days in the row below; every wall carries its bearing.* - **Fri, Oct 16 to Wed, Oct 28, 2026**13 mornings · best Wed, Oct 28 **7:21 AM** Golden sunrise, sun 0° up ESE 107° 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/41.76201,-72.67363?q=Hartford+Public+Library%2C+500+Main+Street%2C+Hartford%2C+CT&b=osm%2Frelation%2F16453244&facade=8&d=2026-10-16) #### 5 Hartford Square North Hartford, Connecticut Wall east-southeast, facing 107° Sun The low morning sun lines up with this wall on Oct 23 to 24. Best: Saturday, October 24 at 7:25 AM, 1.7° above the horizon. Leaves A forecast issued September 25 put peak color around October 18 in most of Connecticut, give or take five days ([More Than Just Parks](https://morethanjustparks.com/foliage-tracker/connecticut)). Where to stand The wall is the long east side, facing Taylor Street. Stand on the sidewalk on the far side of Taylor Street, east-southeast of the wall, with the sun behind you. The sun lines up with the wall at 7:27 AM on Friday and 7:25 AM on Saturday, 2.2 and 1.7 degrees up. These are golden days: at the head-on moment the sun is 2 to 6 degrees up. Saturday is the lower of the two. Nothing in the outlines stands in the way. Computed from the building outline and the sun's position, and not checked on the ground. An office building between Columbus Boulevard and Taylor Street, north of Charter Oak Avenue, about 350 m south of the Connecticut Convention Center. *The building page in Henge Days. The highlighted walls face 107°, toward the sunrise on the days in the row below; every wall carries its bearing.* - **Fri, Oct 16 to Wed, Oct 28, 2026**13 mornings · best Wed, Oct 28 **7:19 AM** Golden sunrise, sun 0° up ESE 107° 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/41.75952,-72.66896?q=Hartford+Square+North%2C+Hartford%2C+CT&b=osm%2Fway%2F287800715&facade=21&d=2026-10-16) #### 6 Connecticut Convention Center Hartford, Connecticut Wall west-southwest, facing 249° Sun The low evening sun lines up with this wall on Oct 23 to 24. Best: Saturday, October 24 at 5:21 PM, 5.4° above the horizon. Leaves A forecast issued September 25 put peak color around October 18 in most of Connecticut, give or take five days ([More Than Just Parks](https://morethanjustparks.com/foliage-tracker/connecticut)). Where to stand The wall is the long west side, facing Columbus Boulevard. Stand on the plaza walks between the building and Columbus Boulevard, west-southwest of the wall, with the sun behind you. Stay out of the drives. The sun lines up with the wall at 5:20 PM on Friday and 5:21 PM on Saturday, 5.9 and 5.4 degrees up. These are golden days: at the head-on moment the sun is 2 to 6 degrees up. A low building with no height in OpenStreetMap stands close in front of the south end, where the wall steps back. With an assumed height it shades that end, so 166 m of the 279 m wall is in the sun on both days. Stand in front of the long stretch north of the step. Computed from the building outline and the sun's position, and not checked on the ground. The Connecticut Convention Center stands on Columbus Boulevard at the east edge of downtown, between the city and the Connecticut River. Its long west-southwest side is the one evening wall in this guide. *The building page in Henge Days. The highlighted walls face 249°, toward the sunset on the days in the row below; every wall carries its bearing.* - **Fri, Oct 23 to Thu, Nov 5, 2026**14 evenings · best Thu, Nov 5 **4:37 PM** Golden sunset, sun 0° up WSW 249° 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/41.76259,-72.66792?q=Connecticut+Convention+Center%2C+Hartford%2C+CT&b=osm%2Frelation%2F20751374&facade=2&d=2026-10-23) ### How the list was made Henge Days computed every named building within 300 to 450 meters of 19 points: the Long Walk and the Main Quad, the Chapel, Vernon Street and the Raether Library, the Ferris Athletic Center and Jessee/Miller Field, the Crescent Street townhouses, the Austin Arts Center and Summit Street, Allen Place, Park Street and Frog Hollow, Park Terrace and Pope Park, Bushnell Park and the State Capitol, the Old State House and Main Street, and the Wadsworth Atheneum and the Travelers Tower. A second, closer pass covered the campus, where the first pass reached the limit of outlines per point. It used OpenStreetMap outlines. It kept walls where the sun lines up with the wall within 6 degrees of the horizon on October 23 or 24. It then traced the sun's path from points along each wall over all 1,998 outlines the scout loaded, and dropped walls where a neighboring building stands higher than the sun. Spectra Apartments near the Old State House lines up too, but One Financial Plaza and a taller building stand in front of it. Two days is a short window. The Wadsworth Atheneum, the Old State House, the Travelers Tower and the churches by Bushnell Park have no wall the sun lines up with on these days with a clear view. Hills and trees are not part of that check, and the times assume a level horizon. Street trees still carry leaves in late October and can shade a wall when the sun is this low. Each entry names the building that rises highest toward the sun from in front of the wall. Where its outline carries no height, the check assumed one and the entry says so. Every date and time comes from the Henge Days engine for the wall's own bearing. ### 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. ### Plan a trip of your own - Search for a building, or tap one on the map, and pick the wall you want lit. - The Henge days list shows the next days the sun lines up with that wall, at the horizon or in golden light, with the time. - The Today tab shows the sun's path for one day and when it is square to each wall. Check the cloud forecast there before you go. - Save a day to your [planner](https://hengedays.com/planner) to get a reminder and a calendar entry, or use [Along a street](https://hengedays.com/route) to find every wall that lines up along one road. Any building has a page like the ones above, your student's dorm included. Whatever you shoot, post it with #HengeDays. [Find a wall in Henge Days](https://hengedays.com/) [Open your planner](https://hengedays.com/planner) ### Sources - [Trinity College: Fall Weekend (Homecoming and Family Weekend)](https://www.trincoll.edu/alumniandfamilies/homecoming/) - [Trinity College Registrar: Detailed academic calendar 2026-27](https://www.trincoll.edu/registrar/wp-content/uploads/sites/120/2026/05/Detailed-Academic-Calendar-2026-27.pdf) - [State of Connecticut: The State Capitol](https://portal.ct.gov/about/state-symbols/the-state-capitol) - [Historic Buildings of Connecticut: Connecticut State Capitol (1878)](https://historicbuildingsct.com/category/building-type/public-buildings/page/22/) - [Connecticut Department of Administrative Services: 165 Capitol Avenue](https://portal.ct.gov/das/das-facilities/165-capitol-ave) - [Hartford Public Library: Library history](https://www.hplct.org/about/library-history) - [More Than Just Parks foliage forecast: Connecticut](https://morethanjustparks.com/foliage-tracker/connecticut) - [Connecticut Public: peak fall foliage expected later this year, September 17, 2026](https://www.ctpublic.org/news/2026-09-17/cts-peak-fall-foliage-expected-to-be-later-and-more-vibrant-than-usual-this-year) - [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.