Foliage & Footpaths

On Saturday, October 18th, 2025, a group of 13 students met up in the Campus Center at the University of New England with their student leaders and National Park Trust College Ambassadors, Mary and Mikayla. The group began with an overview of gear that may be needed for a short hike in the local community, while also ensuring those who brought personal cameras were ready to take some photos of the now-changing leaves! After talking about the day ahead, all 13 students climbed into a university van and headed just down the street to the beautiful Clifford Park, with amazing fall foliage and waterfall scenery.

This trip was a collaborative program with the University’s Photography Club, so we planned on taking lots of pictures and sharing tips amongst the group. We chose this location as it is a local spot, approximately 10 minutes away from campus, that UNE students could easily return to with some great, photo-worthy views. Most, if not all, of the participants did not know the park had a hiking area or a waterfall, allowing us to share a new go-to place with them!

The participants had a great time hiking through the woods, frolicking through the leaves, and taking pictures of the views, each other, and small critters running by. The participants were also very excited to find out that the hike was a “story walk,” including wooden plaques describing a story posted along the trail. Despite being college students, we made a point to stop at each posting to follow along with the storyline. Further along the hike through the park, we approached the trail to a water feature, where we let participants explore the area. We observed students make creative paths over rocks along the river, find trails leading around the waterfall, look at reflections, and overall, genuinely experience the beauty of New England.

As we returned to the trail to continue back to the van, we were honored to meet an adorable 8-week-old puppy. This served as another bonding moment for the group, as we savored the opportunity to meet the little creature in front of us.

After arriving at the van, we decided to take a few more minutes together at the local playground. We shared contacts, photos, completed our post-trip survey, and even found a one-stop library. We gathered around and had a storytime before returning to campus.

All in all, the day was a success, learning new photography skills, being creative, exploring a local area, and getting to laugh together along the trail while enjoying the exquisite fall colors around us.

The trip would not have been possible without the help of National Park Trust, encouraging us to join efforts with another club, and giving us the supplies to complete this outing. We were able to introduce the Trust and the Ambassador Program to like-minded people who have now taken an interest in the organization and look forward to future events!