U of T students working on an app to help you navigate Rouge Park

FourUniversity of Toronto students areworking on an app forRouge Park that they hope will inspire people to take a hike.

Their guide will help you navigate trails criss-crossing the 5,000 hectares of parkland.

"Our vision for the app is to make it something that willhelp people engage with the park and become inspired to get out there and explore the park,"KaitlynChow toldMetro MorninghostMattGallowayonThursday.

• What do you love about our city's greenspaces?Metro Morningis live from Rouge ParkFriday 5:45a.m.to 8:30 a.m.Listen on 99.1 FM and watch live onFacebook.com/CBCToronto

Chow is amaster's student in environmental science andthe content creator for the Rouge Park app, which means she's responsible for all photos and writing. She's beendoing research, speaking to Parks Canada staff members and hitting the trails herself.

"Our hope is to inspire people to learn more about the park and start to care about it, becausepeople will protect what they care about," she said.

Rouge Park isCanada's first national park in an urban area. It's home to more than 1,700 species from flowers to reptiles.

AlexanderCavanaghis a computer science student and theapp'ssoftware developer. He says the goal is to launch the app in the next two years.

"What we want it to look like issomething which iseasy to use,intuitive design, and somethingengaging,"Cavanaghsaid.

'Natural oasis within the city'

Chow says one of the hopes is to teach people about the historical and cultural significance of the park.

"People have lived here for almost 10,000 years," Chow said. "More recently, farmers have been farming in the Rouge Valley for more than200 years."

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Cavanaghsays the app will also provide users with basic information, like a park mapand directions onhow to get to differentlandmarks. That means he's gotten to do some exploring of his own.

"I will admit this is one of the great benefits of getting a job like this," he said."Typically computer science students go and sit behind a desk.I actually get to go out in the park and experience some of this cultural and biological diversity."

And once you're among the trees, Chow saysit's easy to forget you're technically still in Toronto.

"It's sort of this wonderful,natural oasis within the city."