Scenic Byway signs arrive at 16 locations

One of 16 new wayfinding signs for the Palouse Scenic Byway shows Palouse’s attractions, including the Roy M. Chatters Newspaper & Printing Museum, Holy Trinity Chapel and the Bank Left Gallery.

New signs for the Palouse Scenic Byway have arrived and are expected to be installed soon in local communities.

The signs, described as wayfinding signs, have been in the works for several years, County Parks Director Tim Myers said.

Each sign is meant to be a draw for local tourists, informing visitors of three different places of interest in each city or town along the Scenic Byway. The 16 signs will be installed in LaCrosse, Dusty, Colfax, Almota, Uniontown, Colton, Pullman, Palouse, Garfield, Oakesdale, Tekoa, Latah, Fairfield, Rockford, Rosalia and Steptoe. In each community, in addition to the three places of interest, the signs will point toward interests in other communities. As an example, the sign for Palouse points toward Garfield, Pullman and Colfax.

“15 miles west to Colfax: The Perkins House was built in 1886 by James Perkins. The Victorian-style home, a National Historic Site, was fully restored by the Whitman County Historical Society,” the sign reads above a picture of the historic house.

Each sign contains a map of the Byway, with the other locations of signs and a “you are here” label. They also contain a small section with activities along the Palouse Scenic Byway, including antiquing, bird watching, RV camping and photography, labeled with the communities which offer these activities.

“We’re excited,” Myers said. “These will be great for the communities.”

For each community, the sign also contains a map of that community, labeling directions and where the three places of interest are located. Additionally, each sign contains where free WiFi is offered in the community.

“It is good that as we progressed on the signs we were able to add technology that was available,” Myers said.

The signs also have a QR code that can be scanned with a smartphone and direct the user to the Palouse Scenic Byway website. Myers said that when the process first began for the signs nine years ago, QR codes were not yet widely used.

Myers said a lot of time was spent over the last few years to make these signs the best they could be.

“You want it to be correct,” he said. “These signs will be in these communities for a long time.”

Myer said the signs will be installed in the individual communities soon.

“It’s up to each community on when,” he said. “It just depends on their time line.”

He added that most of the signs will be installed pedestal style so they stand at an angle and are handicap accessible. He said Colfax’s sign will be installed at the Whitman County Library, and he also said that each of the communities will have another sign that will point travelers in the direction of the information sign.

The Palouse Scenic Byway encompasses 208 miles of rolling hills and farmland and has several historical sites, including Tekoa Mountain, Tekoa Trestle, the Rosalia Texaco station, Barron Flour Mill at Oakesdale, Elberton Ghost Town, the Manning-Rye covered bridge, the Roy M. Chatters Newspaper and Printing Museum in Palouse, the Perkins House in Colfax and the R.C. McCroskey House in Garfield.

Also included on the signs are Palouse Falls State Park, Lower Granite Dam, Kamiak Butte, Steptoe Butte State Park and the Steptoe Memorial.

More information about the Byway can be found at palousescenicbyway.org