A Trio of Trails

Written By: Luke Osteen | Issue: March 2023

We’re spending a lot of ink in this issue outlining the ways to reconnect with nature after a long winter’s slumber. 

There’s Deena’s Outdoor column, and we have a roundup of Earth Month events you can participate in.  

Let me make the case for getting back into our wild heritage with three easy, invigorating walks.

If you’re like me, vast chunks of your day and night are spent staring at a screen.

Whether your work depends on your online presence, or your sanity requires that you spend random free moments and hours engaged in social media, or you desperately need to unwind from our unsettled era by treating your eyeballs to whatever Netflix or Hulu or Amazon deem necessary to your mental and emotional survival, well, there you are.

I don’t know if there’s quantifiable data to support this contention, but I swear that I can detect my IQ slowly diminishing as my screen time increases. 

But if turns out that there was an easy escape to a more peaceful, passionate world right in front of me, or one-eighth of a mile in front of me – a visit to the Horst Winkler Sculpture Trail. That’s a little green jewel that wanders through The Bascom’s campus and it’s packed with wonderments both subtle and startling.

And, since it unwinds beneath a cool canopy of branches and shadows a babbling tributary of Mill Creek, the effect is one of being miles and years from downtown Highlands.

The sculptures are arrayed across the trail and they never cease to surprise or beguile. And since there are outsized Seussian benches scattered about, you’re constantly invited to sit and contemplate.

You’ll emerge from the trail 20 minutes later and 20 years younger. I promise there’s magic here.

If you’re in Southern Jackson County, The Village Green offers an escape into the Wild Places, right at the Crossroads. One of its most cherished and utilized features is the raised boardwalk that winds its way through the wetlands at the center of the park.

This boardwalk joins the north and south sides of The Village Green and is enjoyed by walkers, young explorers, nature lovers, wildlife observers, bird watchers, and those who are simply looking for a quiet respite from the daily grind.  It is a peaceful oasis in an often-bustling world.

The boardwalk winds through wetlands and streams that flow into the headwaters of both the Chattooga and Horse Pasture Rivers and is home to a protected brook trout stream. These waters form a unique ecosystem that is soon to be designated as a mountain bog.  These same waters whose levels rise and fall are also the reason that the boardwalk has fallen into a state of disrepair over the years necessitating needed repairs that are already underway.

And across the street from Sunset Rock is the Highlands Botanical Garden, an endlessly fascinating stroll that features a little waterfall and a wetlands boardwalk. The unique members of the Highlands botanical community are labeled for convenience. The Botanical Garden offers 12 acres of native plants in a diversity of natural habitats, from upland woods to cove forest and wetland. Special features include a native azalea garden, Plants of the Cherokee, a butterfly garden, and the station’s own self-guided Bartram Trail consisting of 30 native plants associated with 17th century naturalist William Bartram.