Architecture Commons^™

Learning Through Experience: An Interpretive Trail Design For Nasami Farm, Mark Wamsley

Landscape Architecture & Regional Planning Masters Projects

Almost fifty years ago Freeman Tilden suggested that outdoor places have an ability to speak for themselves (1957). They each impart their own set of unique experiences for visitors, fostering the senses of fascination, attachment and understanding. This alluring voice may, in part, explain why nature centers, botanical gardens and other informal learning sites with interpretive trails have grown in popularity. Such sites attract roughly 420 million visitors a year worldwide, making them prime locations for increasing public awareness and action toward broader environmental issues (Jones 2001, 11). Yet, as interpretive trails become a ubiquitous part of the landscape, their …