Pathway design

Hello friends!

I am planning out my fruit orchard, and I need some advice. We're in a beautiful mossy forest with clay-heavy soil, a lot of siltstone. Fortunately there's a decent amount of organic matter, and texture to the forest floor from it just being left alone.

My question is regarding a small swale in the middle of the orchard area. It's naturally occuring, and the trees currently living in the area seem to grow mostly from the mounds on either side of it; no doubt fallen trees that decomposed and became host to new trees.

I will be planting similarly, with all of my new fruit trees on the berms on either side of the swale. However, the layout makes it such that the swale is the most intuitive spot for the pathway.

Now, I know if I just make this a dirt path, it will get muddy and flooded, and not make for a very nice experience. But I'm wondering if there's a disadvantage to laying down a makeshift boardwalk made of slab wood. I'm assuming this would block the rainwater from really collecting in the swale, but it might still help with drainage, and we are in a very rainy area by the coast...
Alternatively I was considering laying a stone pathway? I'd have to stack it relatively high so it doesn't get boggy, but I've also read that stacks of rocks near fruit trees can be really good for them.

Any thoughts? Personal experiences?

Picture of the swale attached, but it's so hard to really see the depth from these pics.

Rocks near trees can grab heat during the day and let it radiate out at night, its helpful.
I would suggest just see how the path goes, can you stay on the higher ground out of the swale.

I assume that you have seen the depression or swale, get damp with snow melt or rain? Is it seasonal or almost continuous? The picture doesn't show a problem surface for walking on to me, but the surface you need for a path depends on the use it gets. There's not much point putting in a lot of effort in a path that is only used once a year for harvesting. Where does the path lead, and how will you use it? Will  it just be foot traffic, or do you need heavier vehicle access?
When you clear the forest trees for planting fruit trees, you will open up the canopy to the light and more understorey plants will start to grow given the chance. For a light use path, grass makes a good surface, but there may be better options in your area.. If you are felling the trees, maybe the brash could be chipped and used to infill the swale.

From my personal experience, I would suggest watching what happens during a heavy rain.  You might find that you will need brush dams or check dams to keep from washing away newly planted plants and trees.

Similar to Nancy's suggestion, that depreciation looks to me to be the natural area where the rainwater leaves the area during a hard rainstorm or as Nancy suggested during snowmelt.

It is very possible that the area will become a stream during a hard rain or as you suggest become muddy and flood. Anything you put there, even rocks could wash away and cause damage to other areas.

I live in more of a desert setting though we call areas like that wet weather creeks.

That is a lovely area.