Trail Tools
- pencils
- Adventure Journal
This is pleasant walk through a mixed forest where an old farm used to be located. It can be muddy in wet seasons.
From the Armdale Rotary in Halifax, travel along Herring Cove Road 2.5 km and turn right onto Old Sambro Road. Travel 1.5 km to the stop sign at the intersection of Old Sambro Road and Rockingstone Road. Turn to the right here. Continue for 0.4 km and turn right into the gravel driveway just after the guardrail. Park here. There is a yellow deer crossing sign on the pole just before the gravel driveway. Start on the main trail behind the driveway, which has two large boulders across it.
For a Halifax transit route, put 168 Old Sambro Road in here. The bus stops at the corner of Old Sambro Road and Rockingstone Road and you will need to walk the 0.4 km to the trailhead.
Enter the trail past the boulders and stop after 10 m.
Can you survive as a deer? Explore the path ahead. Use all of your deer senses to find the things you need to live. Will you become someone else’s dinner? The clues for survival also lead you to the hidden plaque! Are you ready to become a deer?
If you feel that it is safe, sneak up the trail on your tiptoes, taking cover behind trees as you go. If you sense trouble, snort to warn others. Everyone must hide behind a tree.
Walk 90 m down the trail and turn right on a small path. After about 20 m on the path, find the opening to your right. Stop here
The little opening to your right was a farm over 60 years ago. This is a secret deer feeding ground. Make binoculars with your hands and put them up to your eyes so that you can search the area for movements to make sure it is safe to pass by it on the trail. Continue another 20 metres and go back into the forest. Stop when you see the old farm’s stone wall on your right.
Deer like places where two habitats come together, like this field and forest. There’s twice as much food to be found. See if you can find all of the deer food listed below. Don’t pick or eat any of it yourself.
Which one of its senses does a deer use here to find food?
Suddenly you sniff danger. Sneak back to the main trail and use your binocular eyes to search for enemies.
On your way back to the trail, just after the opening, use your deer senses to search for the remains of an old foundation on the right before you hit the main trail. Can you imagine the house? Who lived here? Where did the people get their water? Where were the gardens that deer could sneak into and munch food?
Return to the trail, turn left and stand with your back to the boulder entrance.
It was a false alarm, but you’d better practise your listening skills. You’ll be lunch if a predator such as a coyote, bobcat or lynx sneaks up on you. Here’s how to test your skills.
(With only two people, take turns and see how close the coyote can get to the deer without being caught.)
Which one of its senses helps the deer survive here?
From where the farm side trail hits the main trail, walk up the main trail about 40 m and stop at a two-metre long path on the right, across from the fallen tree which opens onto the edge of a small pool of water.
This is a deer watering hole. Don’t drink this water yourself. Which one of its senses does a deer use to try the water to see if it is good to drink?
Search the area carefully to make sure it is safe. Find evidence left by other creatures. Look along the edge of the water, on the path and in the trees nearby. Only go 15 steps off the main path. Put a check next to the clues you discover:
Walk up the trail about 95 m and stop where you see a large section of flat rock right on the path.
When it is windy or rainy a deer looks for shelter. The best shelter is a covered and dry spot with soft ground. Which one of its senses does a deer use when it feels for soft ground?
Trees give deer something else besides shelter. To discover it, take a deep breath. Hold it for five seconds and breathe out. What did you breathe in? Yes, it’s oxygen in the air and it’s something the trees give to deer and all other creatures.
It’s time for some deer fun. Prance up the trail and try to tag your deer friends.
Walk 190 m up the trail to the opening of another grassy trail on the left.
You are hungry again. Use a different sense to find food this time. On the left, just before the new path, look for a little green plant trailing along the ground. These are mayflowers. In the spring their flowers smell sweet. The leaves are good to sniff too!
Stay on the main path and walk 50 m. Stop when you can just see the brook crossing the trail up ahead.
Which one of its senses is the deer using to find good food?
Can you hear the brook up ahead? Beware, this is a place where predators lurk. Practice finding predators.
Deer and coyotes use camouflage to hide. This means their colourings help them blend in with everything around them so that other creatures can’t see them.
Run like a deer to the edge of the brook crossing the trail.
Who blended in best in this game?
You’ve reached the end of the trail. Have you figured out what four things a deer needs to survive and what five senses a deer uses to find them? Fill in the needs and sense words below that you have discovered along the trail.
Deer Needs
Deer Senses
Now use your deer senses to find what you think would be the most delicious plant for a deer to eat. To search for the mystery plaque, head up the path on the right side of the brook about 10 m and look on the bottom of trees nearby. There are a lot of interesting plants along the edge of the brook upstream. Take a picture of your favourite and upload it if you choose.
The plaque symbol is:
Congratulations, you’ve survived as a deer! If you want to explore this trail further, be careful and find a safe way to cross the stream if the water is not too high. Up the trail is the site of the Umlah farm, another abandoned historical site.