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Amble through the Arb

Welcome to 2018 and a fresh slate of Arbor Explorer Badges! We kick off at the start of the alphabet with a visit to U of M’s Nichols Arboretum. It’s located at 1610 Washington Heights (off of Observatory). You will want to park near this entrance (rather than off Geddes) and enter near the visitor center. Parking near the University is tricky. There are a handful of dedicated “Arboretum” parking spots on Washington Heights. Weekends are best in terms of parking. Visit their website for more details!

This badge is not handicapped or stroller accessible. It includes stairs, paths of various materials, and inclines.

This badge has been awarded to 561 players

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Comments

The eighth clue for the Arb Explorer badge says that the bench is on the right, but it's onthe left.
The ninth clue says the rock is to the left, but it's to the right
The tenth clue says to take the path to the right of the rock, but it's to the left of the rock

Eleventh clue, didn't turn to woodchips until you turn on the path to the right

This is the 2016 badge. I distinctly remember following these directions, taking these paths, with my infant and 5 year old and my father. I wonder if at least some the codes have changed... Though I also very much remember that first one, and it's the same.

Not that the Arb isn't a great place to visit! And I was wondering this past week what the new exploration badges would be. I was hard pressed to come up with some new locations myself. Just sayin'

I can assure that it's not the same as the 2016 badge because I reviewed it before I went and I wrote both! There may have been some overlap, but it's not the same because I made sure it wasn't :) Thanks for playing! - erin GM

It was about 0.8 miles from the first clue to the second the last. The last code is right in the area you start from. We took a different way back than the badge suggested to visit some other parts of the Arb. But based on how far it was to the river I'd guess between 1.5 and 2 miles!

When you're at play.aadl.org on the left you will see ENTER CODES or MY PLAYERS - there's a place to end codes there too. You can also text any/all codes in to 734-327-4200! Thanks for playing! - erin GM

My family and I really enjoyed this badge. Kids were super excited to see all of the different squirrels, we saw three different types plus the variety of birds and butterflies on the paths by the wild flowers. Most of the flowers we saw in bloom were wild flowers, but still pretty none the less.

So it’s about a 1 mile loop? It’s not stroller friendly, right? I’m trying to decide if I could take my 21 month old.

Indicating the path is not handicapped or stroller accessible and giving an indication of the types of path (stairs, inclines, etc) is helpful. Please also include the total distance so people can determine if they’re capable of completing the path. One year, I had to abandon an Arb visit because of too many steep inclines and an apparently long path. But another year, I was able to complete the badge as it didn’t seem to be as long or challenging to walk for me. It would be nice if I could try and make these determinations heading out.

I'm really confused about the fifth code. I thought it was the name of the poem-"The Birches"- and the last name of the person who did the first Poet's Walk. Tillinghast. Apparently the code is not recognized. Does anybody know what I might be doing wrong????? If so, please give me a clue/advice/more information/the code? Thank you!

Thanks for the motivation to visit the Arb on a hot summer evening! This was a really fun badge to complete.
Two nitpicks on the last (eleventh?) clue:
(1) The directions "Keep going, climb the stairs, and the path will end at another - take it right and keep going up the incline back from where you came." should say "take it *left*" ! (I know the Arb well enough to have figured this out, but other visitors might not.)
(2) I assumed the name of the dog breed would be singular, but the code was not accepted without the "s" on the second word. So perhaps the clue should say "the name of the dog breed exactly as it appears on the plaque"?
And another suggestion: I think there are routes through the Arb that would allow completion of this badge on wheels, avoiding stairs, although it might require covering greater distance and providing an alternate order for the clues. (I've been to many Shakespeare in the Arb productions when audience members who can't do stairs or long walks have gotten around by golf cart along many of these paths.) Please consider making this badge more inclusive by creating alternate directions.

Hello! We most definitely keep mobility issues and access in mind when creating the park explorer badges. One challenge with the Arb - having done badges there before - is that the only paved path starts at the Geddes entrance. This provides two challenges that we know aren't ideal for many players - #1 parking up there is almost entirely residential and certainly not handicapped accessible. This would require players to travel a greater distance to get to the park entrance and it doesn't have a safe drop-off area. More importantly is that this would have our players going UPHILL on the return and end of the badge - we heard about this from all players when we tried it in the past - especially when it's extremely hot. We are working on a way to create a visual replica of a parks badge for future releases, but we also have MANY other explorer badges that are accessible to all. If you look at the badges list there are several categories that are "Explorer" badges https://aadl.org/badgelist - they include visiting all of our locations (looking for codes, viewing our art exhibits), local museums (two released last week!), riding the buses, visiting local businesses & organizations, and of course attending our events - of which there are MANY. We have over 6000 players and we work hard to meet the wide variety of needs and wants of them all! Thanks for playing! - erin GM

@ VanCancue If you're not a fan of nature and don't enjoy the journey than the parks badges are likely not for you! It's not about points if you like being outdoors! Thanks for playing! - erin GM

I am so frustrated with the fourth clue it said the bench under the pines on th left but I entered it and many different ways when the full name didn’t work and it didn’t work

I followed the last clue and the path never eventually turned into bark chips. It went on until the next exit, making the clue very confusing and the walk significantly longer.
I tried to enter "goldenretriever" as my last clue and am afraid I have gotten something wrong.

Badge Series
Arbor Explorer 2018

Game
SummerGame2018

Difficulty
⭐️ Standard 1 of out 4 difficulty

Badge Points
60

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