WETLAND LOOP TRAILS

  Barring love and war, few enterprises are undertaken with such abandon, or by such diverse individuals, or with so paradoxical a mixture of appetite and altruism, as that group of avocations known as outdoor recreation. It is, by common consent, a good thing for people to get back to nature. But wherein lies the goodness, and what can be done to encourage its pursuit?           Aldo Leopold   ( A Sand County Almanac 1949)                                                   

Living in the world of technology and its rapid development has brought us many advantages, but it has also changed some of our habits. As nowadays everything is at our fingertips, we have become lazy without the necessary need for spending time and enjoying nature. We are witnessing that most of the city parks remain without their users, while the natural reserves , often outside the city center, remain forgotten or even undiscovered for a vast majority of citizens. The idea for people to return to nature and see its importance also initiated the concept of this project, which is based on a series of trim trails designed for all age groups and abilities. The tracks are primarily divided into three levels according to the difficulty the user needs to traverse them. Each track has a specific color that represents its character and chosen theme. The blue color trail stretches around the river lakes of the Tame River and is therefore named the Water Trail. The Forest trail is green in color and leads through the woodlands of the Lea Marston area. The orange trail divides in several places creating more paths and has the symbolic name of Multiple choice trail where the users can choose their own path at will, while for group visits of school children this path represents a Trail of knowledge where students go through a series of questions related to nature, wetlands and wildlife and depending on the accuracy of the answer, they go one way or the other. In addition to the path mainly intended for children, there is also the shortest path, primarily for families who can overcome it together with the children. The most difficult trails of 20 kilometers or more are intended primarily for experienced athletes, one of which is called the Athletic Trail with its length equivalent to a half marathon. The special path that follows the Tame River has the possibility of being overcome by biking. The very form of the visitor center came from the geometry of the trim tracks, more precisely their overlaps from several directions. The object thus represents the very extension of these paths. The building itself is raised from the ground and the trails lead directly to the floor where all the facilities are concentrated in the form of a coffee bar, a souvenir shop and an info center, as well as changing rooms and showers. Users running or walking along a certain trim trail can take a break in the visitor center and then continue their journey. As all trails are closed loops, the start and finish are at the same place inside the visitor center itself. The visitor center would also have annual events in the form of races and half marathons, which would further increase the interest of the visitors and contestants themselves. Certain trails are designed so that they can be used by people with disabilities, the visually impaired, and those in wheelchairs. The trails are also accessible for dogs, so visitors can enjoy nature with their pets. The trails contains designed rest areas that are in accordance with its theme and are distributed along the length of the trails. Some of the equipment of rest areas are park equipment in the form of benches and water fountains that each station has, then the charging phones machines, renting and parking bicycles, an outdoor gym and micro playgrounds for children. The visitor center would also have its own running app where participants could track their progress, rent a bike faster and connect with other participants. By logging into the application, the User would become an official member of the Wetland loop trails program and would receive a membership card that could be used to track the number of completed trails, which would also provide him with a prize after finishing a certain amount of trails. In the future, in addition to these 6 trails, the visitor center could be upgraded with even more trails and challenges for recreation and serve as an example of how regenerating a landscape can start by simply bringing it back to peoples attention by reminding them of how marvelous a simple walk in nature can be.