TREETOP TRAIL AT THE MINNESOTA ZOO

Apple Valley, Minnesota

1.25 miles, 2020-2023

The recently-completed Treetop Trail allows visitors to experience the Minnesota Zoological Gardens through a renewed elevated perspective. The Treetop Trail at the Minnesota Zoo embodies a profound commitment to environmental stewardship, guided by the overarching mission of “connecting people with nature.” Along 1.25 miles and four touchdowns (access points), the Trail guides visitors through many stories, site histories, animal exhibits, and existing and restored ecosystems, all atop remnants of the abandoned monorail infrastructure. The Trail promotes physical and mental well-being and uses a scaffolding approach to help visitors develop a personal relationship with nature and accelerate their dedication to activism.

Early site investigations and explorations involved a careful documentation of the Minnesota Zoo grounds and the monorail infrastructure from an experiential and sensory perspective. Through a critical process of inventorying, recording, and cataloging, the team produced maps and diagrams to capture the character, feel, and sensory experience of the existing trail. To help document existing conditions and character of the place, the landscape team asked a series of questions: How does it feel to be amongst animals and their habitats at the zoo? What do we smell, hear and see? What are the lasting impressions when visiting the zoo campus? How is the experience different from visiting other green spaces?

Richard Louv’s book, Last Child in the Woods, catalyzed a call to action for the Minnesota Zoo and inspired the vision for this project. The episodic nature of the trail and interactive features connect people more deeply with nature and animals with the aim of improving physical and mental health of children and adults. The Trail utilizes and re-purposes the existing abandoned monorail infrastructure to create a new type of experience by engaging with the Zoo’s landscape from above. While carrying out the Minnesota Zoo’s mission to “connect people, animals, and the natural world to save wildlife,” the Treetop Trail invites visitors to meaningfully connect with nature and animals, raise questions, and to spark an interest in conservation. The elevated Trail provides multiple access points, rest areas, overlooks, and interpretative elements that frame powerful views of the surrounding landscape— both the existing animal habitats, and the less-developed, natural environment of the northern section of the trail. The project ambition, as it re-centers and connects visitors, is to inspire them to take action in their own communities.