In May, project partners revealed designs for the new wayfinding signage that will help visitors and residents in Newport, Vermont, navigate to, from, and along the Newport Waterfront Recreation Path and adjoining Beebe Spur Trail that extends from Newport to the Canadian border.  

The new signage will direct vehicle traffic to trailheads and send pedestrians, cyclists, skiers, snowshoers, and other users to points of interest and important services in town.  

As part of the wayfinding design process, area stakeholders embraced the opportunity to rebrand the local trails as the Memphremagog Greenway. The new positioning and related wayfinding system have been designed to accommodate a long-term vision of having the Greenway circumnavigate the lake – creating new recreation options for residents and visitors.  

The new signage incorporates design elements of existing signage in downtown Newport as well as the sun setting behind the mountains bordering the lake.  

Support from Business Owners 

“As a small business owner on Main Street, I’m excited to see what I expect will be a significant impact of the Newport Waterfront Recreation Path on our downtown,” said Shelly Bourgeois, owner of Gossip, a homewares and clothing boutique in downtown Newport.

“The Center offered a grant to help us with temporary signage that will help folks follow the trail all the way to our downtown, and they have facilitated the process of developing a common wayfinding strategy that will make the entire “Memphremagog Greenway” — from Newport to the Canadian border — an attraction likely to draw both visitors and locals alike to downtown Newport.” 

 The Center contracted with the landscape design firm of Fisher Associates to lead the design process and relied heavily on local constituents for project input. Rick Ufford-Chase, director of Newport City Downtown Development, led the local community engagement process, locating donated spaces for public meetings, identifying and inviting stakeholders to participate, and helping coordinate communication among stakeholders.  

 “The Northern Forest Center has done an impressive job organizing a process to help our town come up with an attractive and effective set of wayfinding signs and logos,” said David Kerr of Birch Hill Builders.  “Their early outreach with business leaders and citizens was a welcome approach to gathering pertinent information and getting a feel for the culture of our community.” 

 The project spun off from the Center’s Rural Destination Academy (RTA) program in 2020-’21, which identified the lakeside recreation path as a significant but somewhat unrealized asset for attracting visitors and visitor spending to the community. As part of the RTA process, and prior to investing in the new wayfinding design, the Center supported craetion of a new map to help users navigate the lakeside path.   

“Wayfinding is an extremely important and often overlooked component in a comprehensive strategy for communities to provide locals and visitors with safe and quality outdoor recreational experiences — hopefully helping lead to positive economic returns on investments for communities,” said Joe Fox, Outdoor Recreation manager for the Center.  

Benefits of the Memphremagog Greenway 

“The Memphremagog Greenway is already an attractive and well used recreational asset for the community,” said Fox. “Its proximity to the downtown, school, Prouty Beach, Bluffside Farm, the hospital, Mephremagog Trails, and an international border make it a major draw for the community and a contributing driver to the outdoor recreation economy. Ensuring that visitors to town can easily find and access trailheads and, once on the trail, easily navigate to attractions and amenities, will greatly enhance the experience for everyone.” 

With the sign design and placement plan in place, the next step is to work with local and state partners to secure funding for final installation The Newport project is one of several wayfinding improvement projects that the Center has been partnering with communities to implement. Similar projects are underway in both Bethel and the Katahdin region of Maine.