COLUMN: Trailing or Leading: Here's your sign

I like to think I'm a bold adventurer. I really enjoy hiking and seeing nature. If I see a trail in the woods that I've never seen before, I'm ready to charge ahead and explore the new territory.

Except, I'm not really that brave. I WANT to hike that trail I've never seen before, but I want to know where it's headed and how long it is. Will it be an interesting trail? Will it be along a treacherous cliff? Do I need to leave a trail of breadcrumbs so I can find my way back?

For years, MYPath has included a series of side trails. We have a natural surface trail that parallels the paved route. We have the wetlands loop that wanders through the woods, across a boardwalk and rejoins the paved trail. We have two trails that go to the pollinator garden. We have the tree tube trail that was created to stay off the main trail during construction and paving in 2024. I talk about all those trails at different times.

MYPath users tell me they have seen trails leading away from the main trail, but they didn't know where those went. I don't blame them for not exploring the unknown and possibly trespassing or getting lost in the woods.

Fortunately, we now have signs identifying what the trails are and where they go. These signs were part of the Building Socially Connected Communities grant we received from the Indiana Office of Community and Rural Affairs. This is the same grant that helped us get the benches, pavilion and fire ring. Volunteers and I installed the signs in April.

The design for these signs came from Owen County artist Bruce Morgan. He operates Freshbrewed Design Co. I was looking for an artist to help design markers that were a little more stylish than basic signs. I wanted these to be special signs for MYPath.

A colleague gave me Bruce's contact info, and we met several times to discuss the project. At first, we talked about trying to mimic the types of trail signs that are in state parks. Those have that iconic look of brown wood with bright yellow numbers. Then Bruce asked if we should try to use something that makes MYPath special, like a particular wildflower that symbolizes the trail.

The challenge is that many types of wildflowers symbolize the trail. It depends on what season you are hiking. In the spring we have violets and phlox, with several other types blooming in different places. In the fall, a lot of yellow along the trail comes from tall cup flowers and sunflowers. I shared images of many of the flowers I have seen. For the design he made a silhouette of those flowers along the bottom of each sign. It is truly a distinctive, attractive symbol of our trail. I took the designs to Winners Circle Designs in Spencer, and they created the signs you see today. (I should note that we have used Stello Products in Spencer for other signs you see near the trail. We have always tried to use local companies for our project.)

Though some signs are necessary, we should not use a lot of signs along the trail. Visitors to MYPath want to see the river. They want to see the birds and wildlife. They want to see plants and flowers. They don't want to read signs. Even the sculptures along the trail complement nature. And now our trail wayfinding signs complement nature too.

Come out to MYPath and confidently enjoy the trails you haven't tried before.