Havenwoods State Forest braille trail opens in Milwaukee

Havenwoods is a state forest inside the city of Milwaukee. On 17 October it opened a short looped trail where the forest's story is told in braille, sound and things you can touch, with white canes at the door for anyone who needs one.

Havenwoods State Forest is a rare thing, a state forest inside a city, and on Saturday 17 October it opened a trail written for people who find their way by touch and sound. It is a loop of about half a kilometre, and along it the forest's history, its habitats and its plants and animals are set out in Unified English Braille, in audio, and in tactile pieces you can run your hands over. A limited number of white canes are kept at the forest to borrow for the walk. Wisconsin's Department of Natural Resources built it with the people who would use it, taking advice from the state's Office for the Blind and Visually Impaired, Audio and Braille Literacy Enhancement, Milwaukee Public Schools' specialised services team, the Milwaukee Public Museum and Lincoln Park Zoo. Groups that work with blind and low vision people set up tables for the opening, the ribbon was cut at eleven, and there was cake.

A group of people at the ribbon cutting of the braille trail, one with a guide dog — Cutting the ribbon on the braille trail at Havenwoods State Forest, 8 October. Photo: Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources.

Money for the materials and the staff time came from a long list of friends: the Ford Bronco Wild Fund, the National Association of State Parks Directors, the Natural Resources Foundation of Wisconsin, the Johnson Controls Foundation, the Greater Milwaukee Foundation and the Friends of Havenwoods State Forest. It is a small trail, and the department's notice is a plain one, with no grand claims. That is rather the point. A forest that can be read is a forest that belongs to more people, and this one sits at 6141 North Hopkins Street, a bus ride from the middle of town.