NATURE TRAILS

OvERVIEW

Nature trails provide students with opportunities to observe, write about, reflect on, study, analyze and enjoy their schoolyard. They are a wonderful addition to any schoolyard, providing students with access to different areas of the site, while concentrating human impact on the school grounds. Paths also provide physical structure to outdoor learning spaces and opportunities to establish transects (paths for observation and wildlife monitoring) for urban ecology studies. The easiest way to create a nature trail on your site is to widen existing paths such as animal trails, footpaths or old roads. Trails should be designed to be accessible, universally-designed, durable, attractive, and inclusive of many diverse land and water features.

TimeFRame

Once a path route is determined and with many sets of hands at work, constructing a basic nature trail should not take very long. Design features to consider include bridges, steps, handrails, trail borders, and signage. The more features you choose to include, the longer it will take to construct your nature trail. The best time to build a path is during the fall, when visibility through wooded areas is best.

land use

Paths should be 4 to 6 feet wide to be able to accommodate classes of approximately 30 students. They should include as many diverse features as possible, without impacting fragile habitats or disrupting schoolyard wildlife.

Materials

Most materials needed for nature trails are natural and inexpensive. You will need materials for the surface of the trail, for trail edges or boarders, and for additional features such as fences or signs if you decide to include these features. The surfaces of trails can be make of sawdust, mulch, sand, straw, fallen leaves, or other natural materials. Edges can be constructed with rocks or fallen limbs.

EDUCATIONAL THEMES

Creating outdoor learning spaces, design, landscape architecture, mapping, construction

Additional resources

Audubon International: Creating a Nature Trail Guide (PDF)