Wayside Exhibits

The CVNHP’s Wayside Exhibit Program has reached all corners of the heritage area. Photo: LCBP.

In the last two decades, the CVNHP has developed an extensive collection of interpretive wayside exhibits. More than 300 exhibits throughout the heritage area and Lake Champlain basin tell the unique stories of local communities. The exhibits explore the landscape’s natural and cultural resources, featuring nature trails, heritage walks, tales of battles that shaped our region, and recent projects to clean-up the Lake, restore rivers and prevent pollution.

Explore the CVNHP Wayside Exhibits

Lake Champlain Wayside Exhibit Manual

In 2000, a group of planners, tourism representatives, historians, and natural/cultural resource managers identified a need for unified standards and guidelines for interpretive signs in the Champlain region of Vermont, New York, and Québec. In response, the Lake Champlain Basin Program (LCBP) convened these stakeholders to develop and design an outdoor wayside exhibit template for use by organizations and municipalities in the Lake Champlain Basin.

Using this information, the LCBP published the Lake Champlain Wayside Exhibit Manual in 2001. A unified approach to wayside interpretation helps local communities place their unique stories in a broader context. A readily recognizable interpretive sign encourages visitors to stop and learn about another piece of the Champlain Valley’s story. The result is a richer sense of history, nature, and culture, and a stronger regional identity among residents and visitors.

Wayside Exhibit Services

The LCBP and CVNHP have provided in-kind design services grants to dozens of organizations using this template for projects that address priorities in the LCBP management plan Opportunities of Action.

Encouraging linkages with the Richelieu Valley of Québec, the CVNHP supports bilingual exhibits and provides support for translation services. Applicants for design services grants should contact the CVNHP.