About a 10-minute drive from downtown Eagle River, a quiet stretch of woods at Tara Lila has become the first forest bathing trail certified in Wisconsin. Visitors move slowly along the path, pausing at marked stops to notice the sights, sounds and smells around them, part of a practice that's drawing in everyone from retirees to a woman recovering from a stroke.
What Makes This Trail Different
Forest bathing is an immersive experience in nature, rooted in the Japanese term shinrin-yoku, according to Urban Milwaukee, which republished reporting from Wisconsin Public Radio. The concept was coined in 1982 by Tomohide Akiyama, then director of Japan's Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry, and Fisheries, per the same account. The Association of Nature and Forest Therapy Guides and Programs offers certification for forest bathing trails, and the certification process itself, according to ANFT, involves a consultant conducting a thorough site assessment before recommending improvements, installations and signage. ANFT notes that certification is meant for sites where people of a wide range of fitness levels can interact with nature primarily through their senses.
Sources differ on exactly how long the trail is. The original reporting describes it as a mile-long path, while WPR has separately described the Tara Lila trail as a quarter mile offering self-guided mindfulness activities. A trail description from Tara Lila itself similarly refers to a 1-mile Forest Bathing Trail following the Three Eagle Trail within the Section 9 Road Park unit. Whichever measurement applies, the trail features nine stopping points and offers self-guided walks using cards left at the trailhead, with invitations to observe sights, sounds and smells while walking silently along the path.
A Guided Walk Draws A Crowd
In August, Trees for Tomorrow hosted a guided forest bathing event at Tara Lila in Eagle River that attracted around 20 people, the report states. The walk was led by Cindy Conlon, who opened the session with about 10 minutes of breathing practices before the group set out. Conlon said forest bathing helps people become both alert and relaxed, and later invited participants to collect one item as a reminder of the walk. Trees for Tomorrow's Shelly Rudnick-Peterson, who is based in Phelps, is affiliated with the organization that put on the event.
Among the walkers was Russ Stauber, who retired from a manufacturing sales job in Marshfield this past May, and Beth Soltow, a resident of Arbor Vitae, who said forest bathing helped her de-stress. Conlon told the group that trees hold space for people to return to themselves, a sentiment that resonated across the varied group of participants who showed up that day.
Finding Relief After A Medical Crisis
For Heather Fletcher, the walk carried extra weight. Fletcher suffered a stroke and a brain aneurysm that ruptured twice in Eagle River in 2022, and she tried forest bathing for the first time in the aftermath of those medical emergencies. She said nature helps her reset her central nervous system, a description that echoes some of the broader research behind the practice.
Research on forest bathing is still developing. Chronic stress itself is linked to increased risk of both heart disease and stroke.
More Than One Trail At The Property
Beyond the forest bathing route, Tara Lila's broader property includes five wilderness trails spanning more than 10 miles of loops, according to vilaswi.com, and sits on private land adjacent to the Three Eagle Trail. Those natural-surface paths cross uneven ground through a variety of ecosystems, with rustic boardwalks carrying visitors over patches of swamp and bog. The property is also pet friendly, with visitors asked to keep animals under control and leave no trace.
ANFT notes that forest therapy certification isn't limited to backcountry trails — it can extend to urban parks, hospital grounds, community gardens, arboretums and botanical gardens, meaning Tara Lila's designation fits into a much wider, still-growing movement. For now, the certified trail gives Vilas County a distinct place in that wider movement.
