Voila! Here are copies of the Urban Wild adventure map book at REI on Brentwood, which tend to sell well over the holiday season.

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Urban Wild is a collection of ten adventure maps that take you “into the wild” of ten popular parks and playgrounds in the Saint Louis area.  The maps take you off the beaten track, and tell you when to go, where to park, and exactly what to look for when you get there. They’re suitable for anyone with an adventurous spirit, but are primarily written and field-tested for families with kids age 3 – 12.

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Here’s the Amazon Link:  https://www.amazon.com/Urban-Wild-Adventure-Green-Spiral/dp/1542349230

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These are real maps based on real adventures, tested by real Green Spiral families in rain, sleet, heat and snow.  Parks include: the hidden places of Citygarden, a pond hop in Tower Grove Park, crawdad catching in Forest Park, sinkhole jumping in Blackburn Park, fishing at Tilles Lake, a winter hike in Memorial Park, exploring a famous cemetery, and looking for the secret spring & hidden climbing boulders at Rocket Ship Park.

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Nature guide Angela Wildermuth is the curator of the maps; Jessica Hoagland is the map-maker and publisher of the maps through Green Spiral Tours.

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Below are samples of the maps.  Each map comes with a “Journey Guide” that gives you the bigger picture and exact instructions, along with little juicy bits and lovable things to look for.

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Computers are nice, but it’s good to get kids off the computer by giving them adventures and hard-copy maps. Again, here’s the link for the Urban Wild Adventure Maps, available through Amazon.com:

https://www.amazon.com/Urban-Wild-Adventure-Green-Spiral/dp/1542349230