A story map is a multimedia storytelling experience. You can combine narrative information with beautiful images, videos, and your own maps into these website templates to create an impactful experience to the viewer. We will build a Cascade-style story map, which is an in-line, immersive format to fill the screen. It is easy for a user to navigate by scrolling. We will combine a few photos, YouTube videos, and a map to tell the history of the Swamp Rabbit Trail, a popular biking trail between Greenville and Travelers Rest, SC which follows the path of the former Swamp Rabbit rail line, and highlight a few popular features of the trail. To start, download the images at the bottom of this page. To see the finished story map, go to http://arcg.is/0yLX4D Planning Your Story MapOur story map will have this basic organization:The best place to begin any story map is with an outline on pencil and paper. Similar to writing a report, having an outline for a story map is an effective strategy to organize the content in a logical flow. Spending a few minutes sketching out the general appearance, sections, and items to include will make putting together a story map a breeze.
Greenville Rec has GIS data for the trail available in ArcGIS Online, including the trail locations, parking areas, restrooms, and water fountains.
Let's turn off the pop-up window for the trail segments. We would still like the Parking, Restrooms, and Water Fountains to have this information, but it isn't necessary for the trail lines, since there isn't much info about them anyway.
We can customize the pop-up for the parking lots to remove some of the unnecessary attributes, like the LASTUPDATE and EDITORNAME.
The map is simple but effective. Let's save the map:
Starting the Story MapThere are several places to start a story map. We will create it from ArcGIS Online directly.
This takes you to the Cascade Builder interface. On the left hand side, you can add sections to the story. There will be a preview of the story map in the main stage of the Builder.
Running along the scenic Reedy River on a historic rail bed, the Prisma Health Swamp Rabbit Trail Network is a 22 mile multi-use greenway system. Opened in 2009, this trail has experienced continual growth and offers fun, non-motorized recreation and transportation opportunities.
The multi-use Swamp Rabbit Trail connects Greenville and Traveler's Rest, SC.
Scroll through this story map to learn the trail's history and development and to see points of interest along the trail.
In 1889, a group of local businessmen launch a railroad with the vision of connecting GreenvilleCounty to the Atlantic ports and Tennessee. The official name is the Carolina, Knoxville andWestern Railway, but passengers fondly nickname it the Swamp Rabbit. It is believed the namecame from the wetlands along the Reedy River that the line traversed and the bouncynature of the ride.Â
By 1920, the rail line extended from Marietta, GA to near the present day Jones Gap State Park in South Carolina. A spur line near Travelers Rest was frequently demolished and rebuilt by the Army to train soldiers headed for the front in Europe to build track in battlefield conditions.
By the 1990's, the railroad had been bought and sold many times and used for different purposes, like passenger service and hauling industrial freight. Some sections were in total disrepair or had the rails removed. In 1998, the railroad was purchased by the Greenville County Economic Development Corporation (GCEDC). Only a single train car remained, but there was a bright vision of converting the rail system into a multi-use recreation trail.
Through the hard work of the Upstate Forever group, Greenville County Recreation, Greenville Health System, and many volunteers, the overgrown rail lines were cleared and paved to create the Swamp Rabbit Trail, which opened in 2009.
The Swamp Rabbit Trail now attracts over 500,000 users annually. It has provided substantial health and economic benefits to the area, and generates nearly $7 million in tourism revenue each year.
We finished the section with a quick history of the trail. Next, we will add another section to hold our map and trailside features.
There are over 22 miles of trail, including spurs and connector routes.
You can park for free at one of 22 locations along the trail. Click the Explore Map button in the lower right to make the map interactive. Click on an item to see details about it.
There are over 30 public restrooms and water fountains along the trail. Next, we will link to The Carrot, an interactive guide to dining along the SRT, since there aren't any map layers showing dining options.
Looking for something to eat along the trail? Click the Explore button in the lower-right to browse The Carrot, a guide to dining near the Swamp Rabbit Trail.
To learn more about the Swamp Rabbit Trail, visit the Greenville County Rec site at www.greenvillerec.com/swamprabbit/
A Credits Section allows you to acknowledge sources for media and information. Let's give credit to our sources by clicking Add a credits section.
Customizing and Sharing You can (and should!) change the default logo and tagline at the top of the story map.
To help improve the visibility of your story map, you should make sure it has good tags, summary, description, and a thumbnail. This is important when sharing to social media, because the thumbnail will be the default image shown in a post or Tweet.
This is an example of a cascade-style story map for teaching LARC 3510: Regional Design and Ecology at Clemson University. It shows the history of the Swamp Rabbit Trail, a multi-use recreation path in upstate SC, and features of interest around the trail.
Congratulations, you are well on your way to being a pro story mapper. |