Mammoth Lakes Trail System Signage & Wayfinding Program

Project description: Under contract to the Town of Mammoth Lakes (TOML), and in pursuit of a comprehensive and trans-jurisdictional Mammoth Lakes Trail System (MLTS), MLTPA has engaged with the Town of Mammoth Lakes (TOML) and the Inyo National Forest (INF) to further develop and to implement the signage and wayfinding recommendations presented in Chapter 5 of the Draft Trail System Master Plan 2009 over the span of the MLTS's geographic area, which includes lands within the TOML Planning Area (approximately 300 square miles). The efforts put forth by MLTPA and its partners-which includes the volunteer members of the Mammoth Trails Map, Signage & Wayfinding Committee-since early 2010 to develop this program have generated benchmarks and procedures that will inform the MLTS Standards Manual, the MLTS Operations and Maintenance Plan, and the forthcoming MLTS website (mammothtrails.org), which are also projects currently underway as part of MLTPA's Measure R-funded two-year contract for services with the TOML.

Phase 1 of the MLTS Signage & Wayfinding Program has included 19 trail signs installed on the Lakes Basin Path in summer/fall 2010 and will be completed with an additional 95 signs to be placed on national forestland around Mammoth Lakes in the summer/fall of 2011. The latter set includes 58 individual maps co-developed by MLTPA and its partners to assist trail users in enjoying their MLTS experiences. These maps were submitted with specific messaging for all 95 signs by MLTPA to the TOML Public Works Department on February 11, 2011, as a major deliverable of MLTPA's contract with the Town. Additional products delivered to the TOML include a consensus-based, detailed list of destination names linked to outdoor-recreation opportunities; logic for which information will be offered on each sign type and how it will be presented; design parameters for the maps that describe the size, graphic look and feel, mounting specifications, extent, and information made available on each type; and the generation of unique QR codes for many signs that will offer smartphone users the chance to discover recreation and interpretive opportunities relative to their current location.

Download MLTPA's February 16, 2011, press release about Phase 1!