Going down the clear path makes the most amount of sense. There's a lot more space for one to travel, meaning all of those people that had somehow been witnessed to the swampsquach have an open way to go about it. It would definitely explain why just so many people were able to see it. You tuck the map into your pocket and setting forth on the road that isn't quite the cobblestone you've remembered from previous planets. When you look down at your feet and it's mostly fallen trees and twigs with some weeds from the surround area; it's soft earth with the kind of give that says this area is very moist.

As you walk, the trees around you start closing in a bit. The path gets narrowed and while it had been clear originally, you get the feeling that maybe you weren't supposed to have traveled this far in. You had seen a fork in the path that hadn't looked all that obvious but it could have been something of interest. Maybe you should have gone down that way instead.

It's right when you think about turning back around, going back to the not quite path you saw that you hear it – it's a strange sound, one that could only be considered rustling. There's the soft sound of lapping water and branches snapping, but more than that, there's a non-natural sound. Or maybe it's more natural? It doesn't sound like any kind of a machine, it doesn't sound like something alien made. It sounds confident, is the best you can assume, as if it's used to walking around and not being bothered.

Go back to the not quite path, this doesn't concern you, does it?

You can always go to the other path later; a Ranger never turns their back on an adventure