For many visitors entering Yosemite from the west, the information station at Big Oak Flat is their first opportunity to get oriented with the celebrated national park. The existing facility, however, strains to house important services, including wilderness permits, campground reservations and a Yosemite Conservancy bookstore, in just 200 square feet. With limited space and no helpful directional materials, the structure is ill-equipped to accommodate the thousands of people traveling in via Highway 120 each day.

To improve the experience of entering the park via Big Oak Flat, the park aims to create a more spacious, welcoming building with ample resources for visitors. This grant funded initial work to plan orientation, wayfinding, trip-planning and educational resources for the new space, with the goal of eventually developing clear, practical signs to help people take advantage of self-service resources, find relevant one-on-one assistance, and efficiently navigate on to their Yosemite journey.

Your support funded a key component of a much-needed revitalization of visitor services at Yosemite’s Big Oak Flat.

Completed in partnership with Yosemite National Park.