Welcome to the trailhead!
This network is part of a larger preserve for wildlife, but it's freely open for visitors. We're here to answer any questions, give you directions, and send you on your way to a safe and respectful visit to our trails. Please - take only photos, leave only footprints! it may seem lonely out here, but you aren't the only person out here. The last thing we want is to negatively affect the beautiful natural landscape we have the privilege of seeing.
Trail Guide
Our trail network is built off of a 'wheel and spoke' design, meaning that the different networks all connect back to the main forest 'hub' . Each zone only has one way in or out, so they can be difficult to find on your own - don't be afraid to ask for directions!
Our trail crews are always working to expand the network, but currently, we have 141 marked trails, 51 of which have reports of unique flora or fauna!
As you wander, you may be lucky enough to run into something special - keep your eyes peeled for what the trails may have to offer!
Our trails are extensive, always changing, and always expanding, so it can be difficult to orient yourself. There's plenty of places to see, and we're happy to tell you which landmarks to follow.
Where are you headed?
Need help? Lost and confused? just curious? I'm here to help!
I don't hear anything!
No biggie - I plan to add more as I can, but right now audio features are pretty scarce, so you aren't missing anything crucial. That said, for the full experience I recommend allowing autoplay for video and audio for the site. Don't worry - there's no loud noises or screamers. (Unless you have your volume maxxed accidentally, but that's on you, not me.)
I'm not finding anything but more trails! what gives?
Because of the number of trail pages, and how many links each one has, it can be pretty rare to run into an event page if you don't know what to look for. try to approach with patience, just like a real walk in the woods: you can't expect to see everything without taking the time to look, right? I really do recommend trying on your own first, but if you're struggling, there is a secret. the page names for the trails have a pattern to them - see if you can find places where the pattern breaks.
yes, tell me the secrets of the universe!
where do these photos all come from? why are they so crusty?
like most of this website, every photo and background you see in the trails is taken by me personally. I'm lucky enough to be able to take my camera to all sorts of places, so the photos you see are from places I really have been before! the quality of the photography is pretty amateur, but it adds to the charm, right? (right?)
As for the crustiness, because I am not a neocities supporter and don't plan to be, I have a hard limit on how much I can actually upload to this site overall. therefore, in order to be able to add as much as possible to both the trails and my main site, I try to keep file sizes and resolutions down and uplaod in .jpg format whenever possible. it makes the quality a little crunchy, particularly on high res screens, but I personally think it's a fine trade to be able to fit potentially hundreds more pages into the space I've got.
Why did you set this up, anyway?
For fun! Largely speaking, i'm a beginner at hmtl, so the trails are a fun little way for me to both put the photos i take to work, and get some practice with coding. I like it when sites have little interactive side pieces like this, and it's been lots of fun to work on a little quote unquote 'game' for my site, without the mental quality standards it would have if I made it using Twine or a similar program. (no hate to Twine it's a great little engine. try it out sometime!)
Could/should I make something like this? How can I do that?
YES!!!! absolutely!! go nuts!! even if you don't want to add any interactivity, you should for sure make a personal site if you don't have one yet. It's goof for you! Lots of fun, too. How to go about it is your business and up to your tastes, but I'd say not to copy my work - it's held together with scotch tape you can do better on your own I promise... Lots of folks have great collections of resources.