Moss is nice underfoot, though it won't take a lot of traffic. I don't know what you'd need to do to encourage it to grow. Have you seen pictures of Japanese moss gardens? They're beautiful.

I lived in the woods for years and can tell you that whatever you put down will be covered with twigs, leaves and dirt in no time at all.

Everytime I see a picture of a perfectly groomed woodland path in a magazine, I laugh thinking of how much time must have gone into cleaning it up. Unless you want to do the same, your best bet might be to chew up some leaves with your mower and spread them--not too thick, though, or it will be difficult to walk over them.

You probably will have to run a mower along the path occasionally to keep it clear of brush and saplings (unless the path is used a lot), so keep that in mind when you decide on what to use.

Enjoy your woods! I sure miss living in that kind of environment.