Copicut Trail is the gateway of the 13,600 acre Southern Massachusetts Bioreserve, the state’s largest tract of protected land. Copicut, Wampanoag for ‘‘The Big Wood”, sustains the native biodiversity of this region. It is home to rare Atlantic white cedar swamps, nearly 100 species of birds, and endangered salamanders.

The project brief: create a destination hiking trail for families with young children, including a fully accessible path along the 1/4 mile out-and-back trail.

The initial concept imagined a natural playground as a destination along the trail. Constraints made this mandate impossible; 1) as a former Native American Reservation, any excavation would require an archeology permit, pushing the project out of budget and off schedule; 2) conservation restrictions limited the size of any intervention to 10’x10’. Climbing equipment with its large use zone and footings were off the table.

Eliminating motor play for the space and cost constraints required the designers to get creative with the concept of play. Can children play with nature? Can the landscape be a game?

The project budget directed most of the available funds towards the installation of an ADA accessible stone dust trail. The project pallet materials consist of: boulders, granite blocks, logs, and felled trees. Construction labor was provided by the trail stewards and staff at the organization. The design budget limited them to hand drawings and intensive sessions of active on-site design and photo text communication.

Copicut Trail’s Seek & Find landscape is comprised of three elements: a welcome gate, a treasure map, and the Curious Finds. Visitors are welcomed by a four-post structure of raw logs with a handmade sign that reads “Copicut Discovery Trail”. All good play needs a portal to unlock your imagination.

A few steps beyond the gate, a treasure map playfully illustrates a woodland world of diverse inhabitants. Here, visitors are introduced to the Curious Finds; The five 10’x10’ accessible stations, inspired by the inhabitants of Copicut Woods, are marked by a boulder engraved with the inhabitants print, a key that you have located a Curious Find.

The Chipmunk Labyrinth pulls the nests and hordes of an eastern chipmunk burrow to the surface inviting children to collect and hide among the labyrinth of boulders and logs.

Woodpecker Block is a curious stand of logs dotted with holes. Set on granite blocks so children can get close and investigate the work of a wood pecker.

Beech Trees Viewing Rocks asks children to meet the eye of the special trees known as the “eye of the forest” for their distinct almond shaped bark fissures. Boulders pierced with viewing holes are placed in a Beech grove directing the view towards quiet forest friends.

Salamander Logs with their colorful spots mark the salamanders favorite hiding place. Visitors are reminded to search for the elusive spectacled creature among the swamps and vernal pools of Copicut Woods.

Insect Hotel traces the tracks of the Copicut’s tiniest inhabitants, busy building their home in felled trees.

They imagined each station at the child scale, theatrically enlarged to offer them the opportunity to become part of Copicut Woods. Once you pass the threshold you are free to hoard like chipmunk, make a nest in the hole of a tree like a woodpecker, or hide behind a log like a salamander.

Unlike adults, children enjoy repetition and maybe prefer it. Children’s programs are often designed around the concept of returning. The 1/4 mile length is both long enough and short enough to hold the program of novelty and anticipation. For parents, they included two custom split log and stone benches to relax on while keeping an eye on exploring children.

They worked with an illustrator to tell a playful story of The Big Wood, keeping the narrative open-ended, rather than scientistic or pedagogic. Their lens for connection is always play as they reveal a present day and ancestral picture of a place. They were sensitive to the fact that the bioreserve is located on the Wattupa Reservation, the ancestral and present-day home of the Pocasset Wamponoag People. They interviewed Alicia TruthSeeker, a residentof India Town Rd, less than five minutes from the Copicut Trailhead. She and her sister are the only remaining Pocasset people with legal right to reside on the territory.

Their hope is that Alicia can use the trail map as an opportunity to share the wisdom of her elders. They included the story of Dr. Perry, the famed Pocasset medicine man receiving the wisdom of medicine from Granny Squinet, a shape shifting forest spirit depicted here as a dragonfly, and several medicinal plants that can be found on site today.

Helping children to cultivate awareness is an act of conservation. To care about biodiversity, the environment, and equality, we need to be connected to the thing that we are fighting for. At the core of its design Copicut Trail asks you to actively seek, playfully pause, and enjoy the act of exploring.