ByMaryam Siddiqi
Published October 10, 2023
• 7 min read
A walk in the woods is not only good for you physically, it’s also good for you psychologically. Studies show time spent in nature reduces mental fatigue and irritability, cortisol levels, and stress.
“Nature is important for our health in so many ways,” says Melissa Lem, a Vancouver doctor and director of PaRx, a Canadian program encouraging doctors to prescribe time in nature for their patients. “We have a standardized recommendation that you spend at least two hours in nature each week and at least 20 minutes each time.”
No wonder many cities and parks are installing forest therapy trails—short, self-guided paths meant to immerse users in nature and engage all their senses. Designed by organizations such as the Association of Nature and Forest Therapy (ANFT) and Global Institute of Forest Therapy and Nature Connection (GIFT), more than a dozen trails have launched in the United States, Costa Rica, Slovenia, and Canada. Here’s why you should seek out a therapeutic walk.
What makes a trail therapeutic
Inspired by shinrin-yoku, the Japanese tradition of forest bathing, forest therapy trails are typically a mile or so long with little change in elevation, access to water, and a diversity of plants, including coniferous trees. Most are on unpaved dirt paths, an immediate visual and tactile clue that you’re not in an urban environment. “The main thing is that the trail should provide a relaxing experience,” says Amos Clifford, founder and CEO of ANFT. “The soundscape is also important, so next to freeways is not ideal.”
Certified trails have prompts (signs, brochures, or apps) that guide visitors to inhale deeply, listen to water, touch a tree, or close their eyes. “Typically in these spaces, people walk briskly as exercise or to identify things like birds, and their other senses often shut down,” says Ben Porchuk, founder of GIFT. “By closing your eyes, you enable the other senses to kick in.”
The trail guides also give users information about the surrounding environment and its effects on the body and mind. For instance, in Rouge Valley Park in Markham, Ontario, signs point out that pine trees emit phytoncides, essential oils which can have a calming effect, and that some evergreen needles—such as spruce, eastern hemlock, balsam, and pine—can be made into a tea rich in vitamin C.
(Learn what this skeptic discovered while forest bathing.)
Lem says she was initially skeptical about the difference between a forest therapy session and simply spending time outdoors. “I thought, I spend lots of time hiking, running. How much better can it be? But I was surprised at how relaxed and connected I felt,” she says.
Building a trail, connecting a community
ANFT has certified 20 trails worldwide since 2018, from the U.S. to the U.K., Norway to New Zealand. In the past year, the organization received 40 new requests from groups seeking certification.
Earlier this year, a one-mile therapeutic trail opened in MacGregor Point Provincial Park along the shoreline of Lake Huron in southwest Ontario. “[Since] it passes through a beautiful ecosystem, forest therapy presented a new way for people to engage,” says John Foster, a spokesperson for Health Parks Healthy People, which helped to create the trail. Along the route, posted signs invite such users to breathe deeply, listen to nature, or observe their surroundings, perhaps by finding a “sit spot.”
In March 2022, Pinnacle Park opened its forest therapy trail in Jackson County, North Carolina. Signs cue users to close their eyes and listen for rhythms in the nearby and distant sounds, to stop and explore the scents around them, and to watch a leaf placed on a stream drift away.
Although the park is known for hiking, with some climbs upwards of 2,500 feet, the forest therapy trail’s accessibility has made it popular with those searching for a thoughtful, sometimes emotional, connection with nature, says Mark Ellison, one of the trail co-creators. “I’ve had people reach out to me who have lost a loved one. They use this experience as a way to enjoy nature and remember them,” he says.
(De-stress your kids with a forest-bathing adventure.)
For others, the trail is a place to unplug. “Our society is so fast-paced now,” Ellison adds. “It’s so connected through our technology. To be out there with none of that can be a different experience.”
Other therapeutic trails have recently opened in small parks, such as Silverwood Park in St. Anthony, Minneapolis, and Washington Park Arboretum in Seattle, and larger ones such as Puerto Rico’s El Yunque National Forest and Newfoundland’s Gros Morne National Park. The eco-lodge Qii House installed its therapeutic trail amid the eucalyptus and beech trees of Australia’s Great Otway National Park. ANFT has a directory of trails on its website, and GIFT expects to launch one soon.
(Puerto Rico’s stunning new trail traverses a tropical rainforest.)
Porchuk says that these therapeutic trails might benefit the parks they’re in, too. “The deeper we connect, the more likely we are to make good stewardship choices in our lives and decisions that support natural areas,” he says.
Maryam Siddiqi is a travel journalist and founder of Provenance. Follow her on Instagram and X.
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