You can study nature from the treetops instead of the ground when a new, elevated Wild Walk debuts inside Adirondack Park in upstate New York.

Wild Walk, set to open July 4, will offer visitors a bird’s-eye view of part of the 6-million-acre park.

You can explore a spider’s web perched 24 feet off the ground and walk up into the inside of a dead tree. You’ll cross swinging bridges and see a four-story twig treehouse along the way too.

At the high point, kids and their parents will be able to imagine life as an eagle by gazing down from an oversized bird’s nest. Twenty-seven towers hold up the frame of the elevated walkway.


It’s part of the Wild Center, a 10-year-old nonprofit so-called “un-museum” that operates on 81 acres inside the park. The center strives to teach visitors about nature with a hands-on approach, taking them outside and inside its main building.

The walk and the center were designed by Charles “Chip” Reay, who worked on landmark projects such as the 1964 World’s Fair in Queens, N.Y., and the National Air and Space Museum in Washington, D.C.

The Wild Center is open Fridays through Sundays until Memorial Day, then daily from Memorial Day to Labor Day. Tickets, which include Wild Walk, cost $10 for kids 4 to 14, $17 for adults 15 to 64 years old, and $15 for seniors 65 and older.

Info: Wild Center (currently closed; reopens May 1), 45 Museum Drive, Tupper Lake, N.Y.