The School of Outdoor Recreation, Parks and Tourism at Lakehead University offers a third-year course on ecological literacy. The course evolved from one with a predominant scientific approach to studying the bioregion to one that embraced a broader epistemological stance, giving greater authority, voice, and presence to nearby landscapes. This essay traces the progression of an assignment designed to increase confidence, ability, and enjoyment of learning how to directly engage in reading landscape stories. Three key pedagogical changes amplified the potential of landscape as perceptible author for student learners: (1) giving place a more tangible and "knowable" quality; (2) increasing student motivation to visit "their" place more often and to stay longer; and (3) facilitating transformation from story seeker to thoughtful participant. (Contains 1 note.)