The Ma'iingan Wildwood Trail

The National Audubon Society ornithologist, Etta S. Wilson, regularly hiked the area since at least since the founding of Rouge Park in 1925 and recorded sightings of birds for the organization’s journal, Bird Lore. She also participated in youth birdhouse building programs in the early 1930s. With her as a member, the NSDAR Conservation Committee developed the new hiking trail. ​

On May 14, 1935 The Conservation Committee of the Louisa St. Clair Chapter, National Society Daughters of the American Revolution​ (NSDAR) held a dedication ceremony and picnic for the opening of the Wildwood Nature Trail, a four-mile loop around the Rouge River between Warren Ave. and Joy Rd.,The trailhead was located just south of the Rouge Park Recreation Center. This area of the park that was designated as “The Wildwood” in the original 1925 Rouge Park Plan because it was the largest and most undisturbed naturally forested section of the park, and that is where the trail got its name.

Sadly, less than eight months after the dedication of the trail, Wilson died. On December 20, 1936, a memorial boulder and plaque were placed at the trailhead in her honor. The ceremony included children decorating the pine trees around the recreation center with edible ornaments made of nuts and seeds to attract the birds Wilson so loved. The boulder and plaque were unveiled with the inscription: Entrance to Wildwood Nature Trail – A place where birds may sing and flowers grow. City Forester, C. Edmund Smith announced the proposal for a new Nature Museum, named after her, to be built along the trail. ​

The Wildwood Nature Trail became more popular than Etta could have ever imagined. On October 25, 1936, the Detroit News held an “exploratory” hike in Rouge Park to gauge the interest in forming a hiking club. To their delight, 1,600 hikers showed up, and the Detroit News Hiking Club was born. The City Recreation Department, the YMCA and other groups organized youth and adult hiking events as well.

The Detroit News Hikers formed dozens of “units,” small groups that organized their own hiking locations and schedules. The Wildwood Trail and other trails later developed in the park became major destinations. Membership in the club grew to 8,000 members in 61 units and continued until 1956. In addition to weekly hikes, they held many seasonal events such as their annual Winter Rally in Rouge Park beginning in 1940. In that year, the event attracted 8,000 participants. Activities included cross-country skiing, figure skating, acrobatics, competitions in art, singing, poetry and photography, and four hikes, the longest being 8 miles long! They even crowned an "Outdoor Queen" proficient in at least two winter sports, and recognized 50 married couples who first met hiking in Rouge Park!
The popularity of the Wildwood Nature Trail spawned the later development of the Raccoon Hollow Trail and the River Nature Trail connecting the Nature Center at the Joe Prance Day Camp area to the Scout Hollow Campground, archery range and the pools.
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In 1951, during a rash of thefts of historical markers across the city, the Wildwood Nature Trail Boulder and plaque were stolen. Later, the bridge where the trail crossed the river collapsed, was not replaced, and the trail fell into disrepair.

In 2016, the Stone Bridge Loop section of the original trail was restored and rededicated and work soon began on the restoration of the rest of the Wildwood Trail. On Dec. 20, 2022, the Friends of Rouge Park invited representatives from the NSDAR, Peggy Scully and Patricia Drury (below) and the community to a ceremonial unveiling of a new boulder and plaque honoring Etta S. Wilson. In recognition of her Odawa heritage, the trail was renamed with her surname at birth, Ma’iingan, and became the Ma’iingan Wildwood Trail. 

Restoration of the four mile trail continues. Next month we will take a deeper look at the fascinating story of the trail’s inspiration and originator, Etta S. Wilson.​