Wander at Will: Blazing trails across the preserves
Editor’s note: This story is part of our Wander at Will series, which is designed to inspire you to enjoy the many recreation opportunities in your Will County preserves in whatever ways you are able to. Whether you’re a well-traveled explorer or just starting your outdoor adventures, digital marketing coordinator Meghan McMahon hopes her first-person adventures will help you find new ideas, tips and hidden gems to make it easier to connect with the outdoors all year.
Being a trailblazer is not really something I've ever aspired to. I'm not enough of a risk taker to be the first to try or conquer something. I'd rather wait a beat and make sure other people can accomplish the task at hand safely before giving it a go myself. I'll give it my all once I start, but you definitely won't see me volunteering to be the first person up the mountain or in the water or down the hill or really anything for that matter.
Luckily, the Forest Preserve's Be a Trailblazer experience doesn't really require me — or anyone — to actually be a trailblazer. It doesn't require me to do anything other than explore the preserves, something I already enjoy. If you, too, enjoy hiking, walking or exploring, this is a can't-miss experience that will allow you to see the best of Will County while learning plenty along the way.
Be a Trailblazer is essentially a digital scavenger hunt using the Goosechase app. Once you download the app and join the experience, you'll have a stable of missions ready and waiting for you to complete. Most require you to be in the preserves, but there are also photo missions that can be completed anywhere. And if you aren't able or interested in tromping through the preserves on a scavenger hunt, you can still participate by answering the trivia question missions included in the app.
This year, Be a Trailblazer has included seasonal sessions, and the first fall missions were released in late September. A second batch of missions will be released the week of Nov. 1, and all fall missions will be live through Saturday, Dec. 12. That leaves you plenty of time to make plans to start your Trailblazer adventure.
My first foray in the fall Be a Trailblazer missions was along the Old Plank Road Trail. The eight missions here called for a hike of about 2 miles, starting in the heart of downtown Frankfort.
At some preserves, including Old Plank Road Trail, the missions are gated, meaning you must complete the first mission before the next one is released and so on. I prefer the gated mission style because it makes it feel more like a true scavenger hunt. Plus it makes it seem neat and orderly, which is just my wavelength.
The starting mission included information about where to park, not necessary everywhere but certainly helpful at Old Plank Road Trail. Next was the actual mission at hand, which in this case was completing a GPS check-in in front of the historic Frankfort Grainery, which is next to the trail.
Once my GPS check-in was complete, I received instructions for my next mission, which included which way to travel down the trail. Other missions along the way included taking photos of signs near the trail and taking a selfie on the bridge that spans U.S. Route 45. For each, the directions clearly outlined the mission objective.
By the time I completed my final mission, bringing me back to where I started, I had enjoyed a leisurely walk on a section of trail I wasn't familiar with. That's one of the goals of Be a Trailblazer — getting people out into the preserves, including some they may not have visited before.
To me, the best part of the Be a Trailblazer experience is that it helps me go slow and take in some of the things I might otherwise miss. The missions often require finding a specific thing — be it a trail sign or a particular kind of leaf — and that helps me focus on my surroundings rather than zipping on down the trail, which is my normal inclination.
I mostly walk for fitness and exercise, so I'm usually not taking time to stop and smell the roses, so to speak. I've often got my earbuds in and am focused on getting my steps in, but Be a Trailblazer helps me slow down and enjoy what I am seeing.
For example, on my walk along the Old Plank Road Trail, I stopped to look at a kind of aster I wasn't familiar with and to check out a smattering of bright red smooth sumac leaves that caught my eye. I also stopped to watch for a minute as a squirrel gnawed away at a walnut it snatched from the ground right in front of me. None of those things would normally have been enough to break my stride.
Another fun aspect of the Be a Trailblazer experience is the prizes. By completing missions you become eligible to win thousands of dollars worth of prizes. I'm obviously not eligible to win as an employee of the Forest Preserve District, but there are plenty of prizes I would have my eye on if I were.
Fall prizes include a Yeti Roadie 48 cooler, a Bonfire 19-inch Solo Stove, a Fitbit Charge 6, plus dozens of gift cards and prize packs from local businesses and Trailblazer swag such as T-shirts and hats. Although not everyone will win a prize, everyone is eligible to receive collectible pins based on the number of points accumulated by completing missions. Pins are available at four achievement levels: Trailblazer Rookie, Trailblazer Explorer, Trailblazer Adventurer and Trailblazer Master.
The Trailblazer experience includes missions across the county, so you can choose to stick close to home or venture farther afield. Besides Old Plank Road Trail, fall missions have been released at Four Rivers Environmental Education Center in Channahon, Lake Renwick Heron Rookery Nature Preserve in Plainfield, Messenger Woods in Homer Glen, the Old Plank Road Trail in Frankfort, Plum Creek Nature Center in Crete Township, Sand Ridge Savanna Nature Preserve in Custer Township, and Theodore Marsh in Crest Hill.
Additional missions will drop the week of Nov. 1.
Ready to blaze your own trail this fall? All you have to do to join is download the free Goosechase app to your smartphone and search for 2026 Be a Trailblazer or enter the code JYBKK4. I hope I see you out there!
