The Wireless Wilderness Tour is now 10 Years Old

Submission by Dave Dyer

The Wireless Wilderness Cell Phone Tour began in West 11th Street Park on April 24, 2010 and has taken over 4,500 phone calls from more than 2,000 people since then.  The total connection time of over 200 hours means that people have enjoyed lots of voluntary nature education.  If you have not taken the tour, it is free and easy! There are twenty signs along the trail that provide a phone number and stop number that will let you listen to a brief message about the natural features nearby. Each message is scientifically accurate and has been approved by local experts and educators.  The target audience is people of all ages who want a better understanding of the natural aspects of the park. This wonderful project was created by Friends of W. 11th St. Park and is maintained by donations from the community.

The inspiration for the tour came from Lorraine Cherry, former president of Friends of W. 11th St. Park.  She read a book by Richard Louv entitled, Last Child in the Woods: Saving our Children from Nature-Deficit Disorder. This publication explains how the popularity of personal technology is disrupting the natural curiosity of children about the natural world. Lorraine decided to use that same technology to encourage involvement with nature.  Perhaps accessing the park with a cell phone would be a good introduction to the wonders of nature.

Cell phone tours are now common at museums and other public spaces, so it appears out beloved park was ahead of the curve.   We found a small company, OnCell, who provided the enabling technology for cell phone tours. Their service allows unlimited simultaneous phone calls, tracks statistics on use, and manages the database of our recordings and photos.  We created our own content and recorded our own messages. When we started, the welcome greeting was from Mayor Annise Parker, a big supporter of the project, when she retired from office so did the message. The first person to take the tour was Toni Lawrence, our city council member at the time.

We thought the term “Wireless Wilderness” was catchy and we were able to secure a trademark on it from the United States Patent and Trademark Office. They confirmed that it had not been used by anyone else, so we now have exclusive rights to use it.

We would love to expand on the concept of making nature accessible through technology.  A very sensitive microphone high up a tree could pick up bird sounds continuously, and remote-controlled night vision camera would allow visitors to our website to search the park for nightlife from home. For more information about the Wireless Wilderness Cell Phone Tour, please go to W. 11th St. Park and take the tour.

Friendly Reminder:
Please remember that COH ordinance requires all dogs to be kept on leash at West 11th Street Park. Several schools and children's groups use this park for field trips and various other activities. We have received multiple reports of off-leash dogs approaching groups of small children, some as young as toddlers, and news of unleashed dogs aggressively approaching leashed dogs. It is important that all dogs remain on leash, no matter how friendly you consider your dog, for the safety of everyone enjoying our park. We ask that all park users be considerate of others that use the park. To see a list of parks that allow off leash dogs please click the button below.