Children’s lives can feel increasingly scheduled, screened and sheltered. The Barefoot Trail in Bellemont is making a simple invitation to Arizona youth: take off your shoes.
The Barefoot Trail is the nation’s first grounding park, a 1-mile outdoor experience with natural pathways, balance elements, tactile stations, and sensory stops designed to reconnect kids with the earth.
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After welcoming more than 20,000 visitors in 2025, the park is now inviting schools, camps, homeschool groups, youth organizations, and summer programs to plan field trips and group visits for its 2026 season.
For educators, camp directors, homeschool families, microschools, and youth leaders, The Barefoot Trail offers a ready-made outdoor outing. The experience naturally supports team-building, sensory learning, wellness, environmental connection, and unstructured exploration, all without losing the spirit of play.
“For educators and program leaders, the best field trips are the ones kids keep talking about after they get back on the bus,” said Leah Williams, founder of The Barefoot Trail.
“That’s what we’re creating here: an outdoor experience that feels like play in the moment, but leaves kids with confidence, curiosity, and a deeper connection to nature.”
The park is focusing on weekday availability to best accommodate field trips, camps and organized group programming, while continuing to welcome daily visitors looking for a flexible outdoor escape.
Groups can incorporate educational touchpoints around grounding, reflexology, natural movement, mindfulness, ecology and the surrounding ecosystem, or simply let the trail do what outdoor spaces do best: give kids room to roam, test their balance, splash, climb, feel, laugh, and discover.
