Master Cameraman, Brandon McClain, Digitally Captured And Documented All Three National Parks For The Nature Valley Trail View Platform Using A 360-degree Backpack Camera. (Photo: Mat Bisher, McCann Erickson)

Today, Nature Valley expands its commitment to preserving America’s national parks through an unprecedented digital platform that encourages outdoor exploration and education – uniting the brand’s heritage with cutting-edge technology. Called Nature Valley Trail View (#TrailView), the first-of-its-kind platform brings together 300-plus miles of immersive national parks content through panoramic views and interactive guides to three of our most iconic parks – Grand Canyon, Great Smoky Mountains and Yellowstone.

Master cameraman, Brandon McClain, digitally captured and documented all three national parks for the Nature Valley Trail View platform using a 360-degree backpack camera. (Photo: Mat Bisher, McCann Erickson)

More than a year in the making, Nature Valley Trail View is the result of boots-on-the-ground fieldwork and proprietary technology. Starting today, nature lovers everywhere can log-on to NatureValleyTrailView.com to enjoy hundreds of miles of virtual hiking, interactive experience and rich visuals across three national parks. Using geo location, the experience is annotated at specific points to offer in-depth parks information for trip planners, including key points of interest and notable trail markers.

On March 11, Nature Valley is showcasing the new technology at the internationally recognized South by Southwest (SXSW) Interactive (SXSWi) Conference and Festival, specifically at the Mashable SXSWi House (#MashSXSW) in Austin, Texas.

“The Nature Valley Trail View experience is unprecedented,” said master cameraman, Brandon McClain, who experienced the journey firsthand. “Digitally capturing and documenting national park trails was not easy, but was very rewarding. Our efforts helped create a singular parks experience that extends the best of nature to people everywhere, regardless of location.”

A Look at Nature Valley Trail View

The platform represents many firsts, not just for the brand, but also for street-view style technology and the national parks, including:

• The first large-scale application of experiential, street-view style camera technology to the national parks
• The first time a team used video to capture every step taken over 300 hundred miles of trails to create an exploratory parks experience
• The first time footage from a 360-degree backpack camera has been overlaid with in-depth parks information to encourage exploration and education

The end result is more than 300 miles of park trails – stitched together from a 360-degree camera’s eleven lenses for one immersive view. A team of up to eight individuals hit the trails for nearly two months – eight to ten hours per day for an average of six to thirteen miles of trails, with various degrees of difficulty.

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