Scouting, Volume 18, Number 5, May 1930 Page: 120
113-144 p. : ill. ; 28 cm.View a full description of this periodical.
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LAZING the
In Camp
By William H. Garr
Assistant Curator, Department of Education,
American Museum of Natural History
.
The Nature Trail \
At right: A type of Permanent Label.
SJ IDEPS
41 LI THEIR I
POISONOUS
SPI0ER5
IN the clays of American Pioneers, the trails came first, then
the paths, the roads, and the streets. The first settlements
were merely camps replaced by villages and towns, and
finally by cities. We have gone on and on until we have
reached a decided point of saturation as far as man-made
things are concerned. Now we are learning more and more
the value of going back, of seeking original sources and of
traveling the few natural highways that remain untouched by
human progress. Today, we find that various out-of-door
organizations have literally blazed trails through forests and
fields in an earnest and sincere effort to make available to the
public the heritage of our natural possessions which have all but
vanished in so many parts of this country.
The development and ultimate establishment of Nature Trails
and of Trailside Museums is an active and a somewhat recent
phase in this general scheme of out-of-door education. It is a
product that has been conceived to supply the constant demand
for information in the wide field of Natural History.
Boy Scout Councils and other wide awake groups have seen
and have demonstrated the value of nature trails as a means
of "putting over" a nature lore program in summer and winter
camps. Since 1925, the idea of labeled trails and of woodland
museum shelters has gone forward by leaps and bounds, both
at home and abroad, in national and city parks and in schools
of all sorts.
I do not know of any more logical, straightforward or simple,
way to manage nature work (I mean all types of nature work),
than by means of nature trails. It is sometimes a difficult
problem to secure and to direct the interest of young campers
along the line of nature education. Competent leadership in the
way of councilors is not always available. The expense of
properly equipping a museum is often prohibitive. Well, nature
trails may be the answer to the entire problem. The expense
is negligible, the method absolutely direct and the essential lead-
ership not necessarily specialized.
LMOST any area may be used in the building of a nature
trail. When desirable, and it usually is, the path should
be in fairly close proximity to towns, cities or camps, yet not
too near to be overrun by careless and -unappreciative feet. The
region should possess different kinds of trees and shrubs, weeds
and flowers, and rocks. The more the merrier! So much for
exhibit and demonstration materials.
The trail or trails should lead to as many interesting objects
as possible. The object to be labeled, rather than the conven-
Page 120
ience of the hikers, should dictate trail direction.
Narrow paths are invariably the most satisfactory.
It is best to have a roughly circular trail that will
swing around through the woods or fields and end
somewhere near the starting point. The advantage
of this system is that the trail walker will have
an opportunity to "get home" without having to
retrace his steps. There is certainly nothing very
strenuous about laying an ordinary, rambling trail.
The labeling is another proposition altogether, al-
though not at all a difficult one.
In reality, a nature trail is an out-of-door museum
where living objects take the place of indoor speci-
mens. Of course these animate objects are suffi-
cient in themselves as far as raw material is
concerned. The labels and accompanying exhibits
are means of interpretation. They permit the object
to tell its own story. Obviously, these labels must
contain more than a mere name. They must serve
in a more valuable way than simply as a sign of
identification.
I HAVE used a game or competitive plan in the
building of a nature trail in various camps. I
will describe this plan, for in numerous instances, it
has been used as a means of arousing initial interest,
and has resulted in trail work of a more permanent character.
Its principal claim to usefulness is that it teaches the boys,
automatically, to use their own initiative, to seek an indi-
vidual method of expression and to learn that there is a
great deal of effort ever ahead. A nature trail is never com-
pleted. It is an undertaking that is always filled with new
possibilities.
The only materials needed are:
1. Several balls of stout twine.
2. At least 200 Dennison linen labels (size about 2x5 inches).
3. 200 Small paper tags (just large enough to hold a number).
4. Indelible pencils.
5. India ink and stub pens.
6. Campers!
Select three boys to act as trail blazers. Their duty will be
to decide upon the direction which the trail will take. The
more nature knowledge in this instance the better, for these
boys will walk slowly through the woods, noting objects of
likely interest to be labeled. They may tie pieces of string
Pan for Water Turtles in a Small Brook
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Boy Scouts of America. Scouting, Volume 18, Number 5, May 1930, periodical, May 1930; New York, New York. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth310832/m1/8/: accessed April 26, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu; crediting Boy Scouts of America National Scouting Museum.