Just in time for tonight’s Fall Candlelight Hike Festival,
smartphones and other Wi-Fi-enabled mobile devices can now help visitors
navigate their way through Schmeeckle Reserve at the University of
Wisconsin-Stevens Point as well as learn about the history of the surrounding
area.
A new online interactive map at www.uwsp.edu/cnr-ap/schmeeckle/Pages/visit/map.aspx shows the
reserve’s nearly five miles of trails and all of its amenities, and allows
users to geolocate themselves on the map on any Wi-Fi-enabled device.
The map also offers users depth information while boating on Lake Joanis
as well as options to see different aerial views of the reserve as layers on
the map. Users may choose to see aerial views from several decades, going back
to photos from 1938, to see how the land has changed over the years. Parts of
the UW-Stevens Point campus are also included in these historic aerial
photographs.
Student Mason Johnson of Mahtomedi, Minn., created the interactive
map using a digital map he developed with fellow students Chase Bayer,
Oconomowoc, and Krista Kamke, Pulaski, last spring. The students were assisted
by Christine Koeller, a faculty associate with the Geographic Information
Systems Center on campus, and Jim Buchholz and Outreach Coordinator Megan Espe.
“My hope is that this web map makes it easier for visitors of
Schmeeckle Reserve to navigate through the trails, be aware of all the great
amenities that the reserve has to offer and learn about its history from 1938
to the present,” said Koeller.
For more on UW-Stevens Point’s Schmeeckle Reserve, go to www.uwsp.edu/cnr-ap/schmeeckle.