Wild Walk

Tupper Lake, New York | 2013-2015 | 10,000 sf | Architect of Record | Completed

Wild Walk is an interactive nature walk at the Wild Center, a non-profit organization and nature center committed to helping people explore and learn about the natural environment of the Adirondacks. Built in the forest, Wild Walk is designed as an elevated trail of bridges that creates a learning landscape; bringing visitors up into the treetops to offer a new perspective of the forest. The project consists of a series of platforms connected by bridges that start at grade level and gradually bring people 40 ft. above grade to look out over the surrounding woodlands. The platforms are supported by Corten steel posts designed to be an abstraction of the surrounding white pine trees. Wild Walk is almost fully accessible, family oriented, and includes a four-story twig tree house, swinging bridges, a spider’s web for shared play, hovering 24 ft. off the ground, and many opportunities to sit, observe and learn about the forest below. The walk culminates in a life-sized bald eagle’s nest at the highest point that visitors can inhabit.