Discovering More on the Bibury Trout Farm trail: A Trail for All Ages
Bringing the Nature and History to Life at the Bibury Trout Farm trail
A great visitor trail can encourage people to slow down, look closer and discover stories they may otherwise have missed.
Brilliant Trails was delighted to work with Bibury Trout Farm to design and create a bespoke Bibury Trout Farm trail exploring the nature, wildlife and history of the site.
The aim was to give visitors another activity to enjoy during their day at the farm, encouraging them to explore more of the grounds while increasing visitor engagement and dwell time. To make the experience work for different ages, we supported the physical Bibury Trout Farm trail with both a web-based interactive experience for adults and a colourful children’s activity booklet.
Discovering the Stories of the Farm at the Bibury Trout Farm trail
The physical trail markers formed the backbone of the experience, guiding visitors around Bibury Trout Farm visitor trail and highlighting interesting stories, facts and features along the way.
Each marker was designed to encourage visitors to stop and discover something about their surroundings – from the natural environment and wildlife to the history and heritage that have shaped the farm.
Rather than simply providing information, the trail created a reason to explore different areas of the site and helped visitors better understand what makes Bibury Trout Farm special.
An Interactive Digital Bibury Trout Farm Trail for Adults
To add another layer to the experience, Brilliant Trails developed a web-based trail app aimed primarily at adult visitors.
As visitors made their way around the farm, they could access multiple-choice questions relating directly to the information they had discovered on the physical markers.
With no traditional app download required, the web-based experience was quick and easy to access from a smartphone. It turned the interpretation into something visitors could actively participate in, encouraging them to read the panels, test their knowledge and engage more closely with the stories around the site.
Combining physical interpretation with digital interaction allowed us to create a richer experience without introducing unnecessary technology into the landscape.
Gilbert’s Fin-tastic Quest at Bibury Trout Farm
Younger explorers had an adventure of their own with Gilbert’s Fin-tastic Quest.
Brilliant Trails designed a fun, bright activity booklet specifically for children, filled with facts, information, activities and the story of Gilbert the trout as he embarks on his adventures around Bibury Trout Farm.
Gilbert gave younger visitors a character to connect with as they explored, helping make information about the farm, trout and surrounding nature more accessible and entertaining.
The booklet provided children with something physical to carry, complete and enjoy throughout their visit, while giving families another shared activity to take part in together.
By creating separate experiences for adults and children around the same physical trail, we were able to make the interpretation relevant to a much wider audience without overcrowding the trail markers themselves.
One Trail, Different Ways to Explore
One of the strengths of the Bibury Trout Farm project was its layered approach.
The physical markers tell the stories, the web-based app challenges adult visitors, and Gilbert’s Fin-tastic Quest engages younger explorers through storytelling, facts and activities.
Together, they create an experience that families can enjoy at the same time but in different ways.
This is particularly valuable for visitor attractions where audiences can range from young children to parents, grandparents, groups and tourists. Instead of trying to make one type of interpretation work for everyone, each element can be designed around the needs of its intended audience.
Encouraging Visitors to Stay and Discover More
An important objective for the project was to create another reason for visitors to spend time at Bibury Trout Farm.
By introducing a structured trail around the site, visitors are encouraged to explore areas they might otherwise pass by, stop at interpretation points and spend longer discovering the farm.
The trail has successfully helped to increase dwell time and add value to the overall visitor experience, demonstrating how interpretation can do much more than communicate information.
For attractions, longer and more engaging visits can also create opportunities for visitors to make greater use of other on-site facilities and help turn a visit into a more complete day out.
Creating Visitor Experiences for Every Generation
The Bibury Trout Farm trail demonstrates how interpretation, storytelling, printed activities and digital technologycan work together to create an experience for multiple generations.
From developing the trail and interpretation through to the interactive web experience and children’s workbook, Brilliant Trails created each element to work as part of one coordinated visitor journey.
Whether it’s a farm, heritage site, country park or visitor attraction, a bespoke trail can uncover the stories already present within a site and give visitors a new reason to explore them.
Sometimes, the best way to encourage people to stay a little longer is simply to show them there’s more to discover.
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