Gorges State Park
Visitor Center 

SAPPHIRE, NORTH CAROLINA

While Gorges State Park is a destination for rugged hiking, fishing, and camping, it is home to twenty-six beautiful waterfalls, making it ideal for sightseeing.

The design began with a cohesive brand that starts at the park entry, where a large relief map of the Blue Ridge Escarpment cast in concrete welcomes visitors. This is carried throughout the exhibit structure with overlaid collage-style graphics, frosted glass panels, interpretive images, text blocks, digital monitors, and interactive opportunities. The repetitive use of this design element helped to stitch together the diverse interpretive messages offered at the park into a cohesive informational experience. The oversize mural images were taken by renowned nature photographer Chuck Downs.

A two-story waterfall wall explores the geography and geology of the Blue Ridge Escarpment, allowing visitors to touch and walk under the waterfall structure. A real-time rain gauge displays the amount of rainfall at the park compared to cities across North Carolina. Next, visitors can look at the generations of people that have historically called the Gorges region their home, from Native Americans and migrating Europeans to the current inhabitants. A postcard station at the end of the exhibit allows visitors to send “Kodak Moment” scenes from the park or a selfie in the visitor center to friends and family.