Abby de Buhr, Education Director at the Douglas-Hart Foundation in Mattoon, Illinois
We all know the outdoors is a great escape, but what if you can't escape the outdoors?!
In 2020, The Douglas-Hart Nature Center developed an outdoor escape room experience called Into the Woods when the outdoors was truly the only place you could go to escape. We are very proud of the experience we have created to encourage people to get outdoors in an unique (and challenging) way, and we want to share how it can easily be adapted to programming at your own facility.
A program arises
During the pandemic, our team was trying to think outside the box of how we can still continue to safely offer programs or events. Of course, we offered a variety of take home kits and e-learning opportunities, but we were ready to get back outside with people. On top of that, we needed a good fundraiser! Times were tough!
Before I was education director, I was an environmental educator with the Foundation. I have always loved programs that allowed me to use my creativity, and I am very fortunate my supervisor let me run wild . . . with a relatively long leash. I have always loved incorporating scavenger hunts into my outdoor programming, so it was on my idea list for a long time to create an outdoor escape room, even though I had no idea what that looked like at the time.
One day, my boss came to me and said “Do you think you can pull it together in a month?” — and since I’m writing this article, you already know I said “Yes!”
I had no idea how I was going to pull it off, but I accepted the challenge. I did some research, and the Foundation staff came together as a team to develop Into the Woods: An Outdoor Escape Room Experience.
Program participants work to “escape” a station as part of Into the Woods.
Structuring the experience
For this event, we invite families, friends, or any group of people to go into the woods to ‘escape’ five different stations on a designated trail route. As groups arrive at the nature center, a staff member greets them and briefs them on what to expect before sending them down the trail to their first escape station. To ease your mind, groups are in no way actually locked in a room or area. Stations are simply designated areas along our trail route that have decorations and clues to fit the annual theme.
For example, we created a camping scene for our bigfoot station this year. As participants arrive at a station, their eyes will immediately start scouring the area for potential clues. Our station facilitators (staff or volunteers) welcome the group to the station and remind them to speak out loud to each other as they are finding things, use the scrap paper and pencil given at orientation to help keep track of clues, and to put important items on the table for all to see.
Then the countdown begins! Groups are given ten minutes at each station to ‘escape.’ When the facilitators say “go,” groups begin searching for any and all clues! Puzzles, digital safes, lock boxes, decoders, puzzle boxes, decoys, and more are scattered throughout the station for groups to collect and examine to help them escape. Naturally, the stations have plenty of ‘fluff’ decor that helps pull together the theme, but it also misleads the group for an extra challenge.
TICK! TOCK! TICK! TOCK! While the time is ticking, groups are working together to unscramble letters, decipher codes, open locks, interpret riddles, and more! How do they know when they have successfully escaped the station? For the first four stations, participants are looking for a particular item shown to them during orientation that is needed to help them at the fifth (and final) station, where they will physically unlock a gate, door, or similar to ‘escape’ the woods.
Uh oh! The facilitators have given a two-minute warning, and the group frantically starts searching for overlooked clues or contemplating using a mulligan. Each group receives two gold coins or mulligans at orientation that can be used to ‘purchase’ a hint from a station facilitator. They only get two for the entire event, so they must be used wisely!
RING! RING! RING! Time is up! If the group did not finish in time, the station facilitators briefly explain how they could have connected the clues to retrieve the item and send them on their way to the next station, which is usually harder than the last! While the group heads down the trail to the next station, facilitators reset their station for the next group.
Every group that comes through our outdoor escape room experience hopes they are one of the few that successfully complete all five stations — only 25% of the groups in attendance escape all the stations!
Applying this concept to other sites
Are you interested about how your organization could potentially host this event at your site? We have already heard of other organizations replicating this idea in different capacities, and we are happy to share insight on how you could too.
For our event, we like to offer a new theme each year that influences what stations we create on the trail. This year’s theme was cryptids, so we titled the event “Lurk Into the Woods” to better reflect the idea of mysterious folklore creatures lurking in the woods with stations featuring bigfoot, loch ness monster, and more!
We use the same trail route and station locations each year, so I encourage you to scope out your space to see if the trail can be self-led and how many stations would be best. Remember, more stations means more work!
If you have not attended a professional escape room before, I highly recommend you doing so for research and inspiration. However, don’t think yours has to have all the bells and whistles like theirs to be successful; a lot of our clues are handmade! I would then encourage you to start researching different clues and puzzle types. Google is your best friend! Simply type “DIY Escape Room” and you will be flooded with Pinterest posts, blogs, YouTube videos, and more to inspire you.
Your next step will be to collect locks, safes, decoys, and more that could be used to create your escape room experience. Variety is key (pun intended)!
A mind map of a station.You have your theme, inspiration, and materials — now what? It’s time to put it together into a mind map! What is a mind map you ask? It is essentially a visual representation of how the clues connect in each station for groups to escape. See the picture provided for an example. This is essential in planning and preparing materials, and this is used to help facilitators reset during the event. Don’t worry! Your first draft won’t look pretty and that is okay! My first attempt is always on a scratch piece of paper, and I convert it into a digital format when I feel more confident in how I would like the clues to connect.
Once we have our plan in place, we assign individual staff members to prepare clues and props for each station. Because this event has a lot of potential for human error, don’t forget to complete a trial run (or two) with a group before the real deal!
Building a successful program
It has been five years since our first Into the Woods event, and while it is a lot of prep work, we plan to continue this event for many reasons.
Most importantly, it is a unique way to promote individuals getting outdoors. This event is 99% outdoors, and 80% of our time slots sell out each year!
With this event, we reach a different audience than our other “traditional” programs. Not to mention, Coles County is a rural community with limited activities, so we are proud to provide this fun and engaging opportunity for our local community members. It also serves as a chance for local groups (scouts, sororities, etc.) businesses and organizations to come together for quality team building. Our staff also really enjoy this event as a fun and creative outlet.
We are already excited for Into the Woods 2025. Stay tuned on the Douglas-Hart Foundation website or our social media (@douglashartnc) for updates on next year’s outdoor escape room experience!
I understand that after reading this, you may feel you were in an escape room yourself trying to decipher all the information I’ve given you! Please do not hesitate to reach out and ask questions by emailing and I will be happy to send you resources from a previous presentation on how you can recreate this event.
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