South Cumberland State Park (SCSP) is the second-largest state park in Tennessee, spanning 31,000 acres of amazing wilderness, waterfalls, bluff views, and canyons to explore. Hiking, rock climbing, and backcountry camping are popular activities for visitors of all ages. SCSP is home to fascinating geological, biological, and human history, but only a few park visitors were aware of its historic background, until now.
The Friends of South Cumberland State Park dedicated many hours over the past three years to designing and installing a variety of Pannier panels and exhibit bases throughout SCSP. The most recent installation included over a dozen interpretive signs which were created to educate and inspire visitors to learn more about the amazing history of the area.
“Twelve of the new interpretive signs contain topics ranging from our unique geological “Chimneys” to several of the Moonshine stills visitors can still see in remote corners of the park. Two signs were placed at trailheads to acquaint visitors with the incredible array of spring wildflowers that can be seen in Big Creek Gulf and Collins Gulf, two of the deepest canyons in the park. A scannable QR Code on the panels allows visitors to download a wildflower identification guide. Finally, we installed two panels explaining the forestry practice known as a “prescribed burn,” and how controlled fire will actually protect the overstory forest from more devastating wildfires, while at the same time promoting the growth of low grasses and shrubs that provide habitat for many ground-dwelling birds and other animals.” —Rick Dreves, Friends of South Cumberland State Park
Visitors can find the recently-installed Fiberglass Embedded panels and Traditional T exhibit bases throughout the park, along its 85 miles of hiking trails. Pannier’s Traditional T exhibit base style is extremely popular for park and trail applications because of the sturdy and attractive Low Profile design. The Friends of South Cumberland State Park incorporated consistent colors and elements in the layout of each panel. This establishes a beautiful and cohesive brand identity throughout SCSP.
A large Triple Offset Kiosk is located in the trailhead area at SCSP headquarters. It is one of the busiest places in the park, which presents a great opportunity to educate first-time visitors with all of the essential information about the park in a condensed form on a three-panel offset sign. The combination of information on the panels, coupled with the QR Codes, puts the visitor in charge of their own learning and gives them a quick and easy way to orient themselves to the many features of SCSP.
“We would like to thank the Friends of South Cumberland, the Tennessee Trails Association, the Tennessee Iris Fund, Friends of Tennessee State Parks, and the Tennessee Wildlife Federation for their support of these terrific interpretive signs! The SCSP Rangers were also incredibly helpful in getting us access to some of the more remote back-country areas where exhibits were installed.” —Rick Dreves, Friends of South Cumberland State Park
The Friends of South Cumberland previously installed 13 of Pannier’s Traditional T exhibit bases to tell the story of a Civilian Conservation Corps camp, dating from the 1930s, the remnants of which are located in Grundy Forest, a very popular and heavily-visited area of SCSP. Read about that project here!
For more information on Pannier’s outdoor interpretive signs, panels, exhibit bases, and frames, browse our website or fill out a contact form. We look forward to an opportunity to help you with your next signage project.
