Over the last two years, the Northern Forest Center and community partners in Newport, VT worked together to design a comprehensive signage package to help visitors and residents navigate between downtown Newport and the Canadian border via the Newport Waterfront Recreation Path and Beebe Spur Rail Trail.  

The new signage has begun being installed and incorporates design elements of existing signage in downtown Newport as well as the sun setting behind the mountains bordering the lake. The signage is intended to enhance the visitor experience and encourage folks to explore Newport and beyond by helping direct vehicle traffic to trailheads and providing guidance to 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. “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.  

“The Memphremagog Greenway is already an attractive and well-used recreational asset for the community,” said Fox. “In the past, folks often asked how to get to the Canadian border from downtown, and directions could be confusing. Now visitors can simply be told to follow the Memphremagog Greenway.” 

The trail’s 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,” said Fox. 

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.  

“The Center’s 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.”