Signs and Waysides

The Sign Language of the National Park Service

White Sands National Monument Visitor Center — National Park Visitor Centers evoke the aspirations of the park, and are interpretive worlds unto themselves. While not all of the hundreds of individual units in the National Park System have visitor centers, some of them, including many of the 63 official National Parks, have a few. CLUI photo

NATIONAL PARKS ARE PLACES WHERE a piece of the continuous fabric of the American landscape is cut off from its surrounds, and described from within, through a network of interpretive devices, comprised mostly of signs—signs designed according to the guidelines of the Interpretive Design Center, at Harpers Ferry.

These signs direct and control crowds, enhance visitor experiences, and impress the ideals and ideas of the National Park Service upon the public’s hearts and minds. Looking at the signs in a National Park is to read the story of a nation attempting to explain itself, to itself.

Signage is generally divided into three categories: Park Identity Signs, Motorist Guidance Signs, and Visitor Information Signs.

The entrance sign for Grand Teton National Park, Wyoming. CLUI photo

Park Identity Signs
National Park entrance signs are the most prominent and important Park Identity signs. Located at the main entrance of the park, these signs are often designed to embody and express qualities about the park, especially the more popular and significant National Parks.

Park entrance signs can be constructed using stone, metal, or wood, reflecting the context of the park, such as in a desert, urban area, or forest, and the signs sometimes use local materials, drawn from the ground. Some entrance signs, especially those at the more celebrated parks, have pullouts, so visitors can park their cars and pose for a group photo, as confirmation that they have arrived, and are, indeed, there.

Yellowstone National Park entrance sign — A feature at every entrance sign, no matter how big or small the park, is the NPS Arrowhead emblem. The Arrowhead is a registered and protected trademark of the National Park Service, which began using it in the 1950s as the official stamp of authority on NPS signs, publications, uniforms, and places. Its use is limited, controlled and policed by the NPS. CLUI photo

repeat tour/end of tour sign — Colonial National Historical Park, Virginia. CLUI photo

Motorist Guidance Signs and Visitor Information Signs
Motorist Guidance signs provide directions, list regulations, and indicate hazards along roadways. They are brown in color to distinguish them from the more common green color used by state and federal transportation agencies, and to remind people they are traveling in a National Park. These signs help guide drivers to resources, services, and activities within the park, and point out significant features.

warning sign in snow — Though design guides generally suggest uniformity, the style of signs in pedestrian areas can vary according to local park management and aesthetics. CLUI photo

Visitor Information signs provide guidance and other useful information for visitors when they get out of their cars and are on foot in outdoor and indoor areas. Visitor safety signs help keep people on the trails and out of trouble by warning of hazards and clarifying boundaries to protect natural and cultural resources. Pedestrian wayfinding signs direct people towards park features and useful services such as restrooms.

A battery of signs outside the visitor center at Zion National Park, Utah. Outside and beyond visitor centers is where Park Service interpretive signage blossoms to its full flower. CLUI photo

Interpretive Signs and Waysides
The signs closest to the visitor center generally provide information, rules, regulations, and orientation. They are usually vertical signs, known as uprights or high-profile signs, providing information at eye level for most people. These signs also provide information when the visitor center is closed.

At some locations, these vertical signs guide people around the site, using clear and concise maps, which always show you where you stand, in relation to the other points of interest.

These high-profile vertical signs are located along linear walking trails, often at decision points, providing utilitarian orientation information to help you decide if you want to continue, one way or another.

Upright display at Flight 93 National Memorial, Pennsylvania. CLUI photo

Uprights are typically made of steel, and have a single panel, commonly 36” by 48”. They can be double-sided or single-sided. They can be coupled with a second sign, or a third (with an additional post), or with a bulletin case, used for changing information such as seasonal notices and programming schedules. In NPS sign language, bulletin cases are known as ancillaries, which include other add-on items, such as an audio box or brochure holder, to further engage and enhance the visitor’s experience.

signs at Sunset Crater Volcano National Monument, Arizona — Another common variant of the upright sign is the narrow vertical, typically with three small panels, providing brief information on what, where, and how, and often found at a trailhead, such as here at Sunset Crater Volcano National Monument, Arizona. CLUI photo

High-profile signs are typically used for information, orientation, and wayfinding, not for interpreting the immediate scene. That function is performed by the classic NPS interpretive sign, known as a low-profile sign. This is the most prolific interpretive sign, found all over the country, in nearly identical form and dimension.

Narrow low-profile signs, like this one at Abraham Lincoln Birthplace National Historical Park, in Kentucky, are used to convey a simple message, with one image, one paragraph, and no inset images. CLUI photo

Wide low-profile signs, like this one at Gettysburg National Military Park, in Pennsylvania, allow for multiple images and text to explain more complex taxonomies, but are less common, as they exceed the typical visitor’s attention span. CLUI photo

The most common low-profile sign allows for a primary image, an inset image, and few paragraphs of text, such as this one at Death Valley National Park, California. CLUI photo

The Classic Low-Profile Sign
The typical low-profile sign is a flat graphic panel mounted on a metal frame and base, anchored into the ground or onto a low wall, angled and oriented to direct the visitor’s attention towards a particular view, scene, or object, which is addressed directly in the content of the sign. In this way, these signs serve as a kind of caption for the landscape.

The typical panel size is 36” wide by 24” tall, with printed images, text, and graphics. The graphics panels are usually printed directly onto aluminum, and finished with a clearcoat. Other fabrication methods include prints saturated with fiberglass resin and baked at high temperatures, applying high-pressure laminates and phenolic sheets, or porcelain enamel.

The signs have to last in extreme environments, exposed to UV, weather, and vandalism, and the Park Service has been a major contributor to developments in the science and techniques of outdoor sign preservation. Even so, their average life expectancy in the field is only five years.

National Park Service designers have a lot to say about how to design the content of these signs. First, the signs need to capture the viewer’s attention with arresting images, graphics, and a brief, bold declarative heading or title of just a few words. Without this, people will just walk by after a glance, and there will be no point to the sign’s existence.

Then, the sign should provide just enough information to explain the thing being pointed out, but without being didactic; to convey why it is being pointed out without appearing judgmental; and how doing so helps the world become a better place as a result, without saying how.

All this, without losing the viewer’s interest. The Park Service estimates capturing the visitor’s attention must take place within three seconds, and if successful, viewers will only spend as much as 30–45 seconds looking at the sign. This limits the text on a typical sign to 75–100 words. Style guides also recommend using one primary image or graphic, with just a few smaller insets, if any. Larger signs provide space for a bit more, and smaller ones a bit less. Signs can be coupled, but there should be a good reason for it, and they should each make their own point.

Most of these low-profile signs are found at waysides along trails and roads. Waysides are places to pause, take in a view, and connect with where you are. They are, in park parlance, located immediately adjacent to features on the landscape, the “original objects” enjoyed firsthand by active visitors. The Park Service acknowledges that a wayside is an intrusion into the landscape, and that having too many waysides dilutes the message. Having too few, on the other hand, misses opportunities to enrich and enhance the visitor’s experience. ♦

HARPERS FERRY CENTER: THE EPICENTER OF NATIONAL PARK SERVICE DESIGN

The Lay of the Land

Signs and Waysides