Great Basin National Park

Mather Overlook Bronze Relief Map

​National Park
1986
 
Park Size
77,000 acres
 
Annual Visitors
143,000
 
Park Fee
none
 
Superintendent
Ashley Adams
 
Park Partner
Great Basin National Park Foundation
 
Location
White Pine County, NV

Great Basin National Park has some of the wildest and most isolated terrain of any unit in the National Park system. Topography includes craggy mountain slopes, like Wheeler Peak at 13,000 feet above sea level, gentle sagebrush-covered foothills, boulder fields cemented together by ice, and magnificent limestone caves. The vastness and diversity of the park can be hard for the average visitor to grasp.
 
The Fund for People in Parks provided a grant to Great Basin National Park Foundation and sculptor Bridget Keimel to create a bronze tactile relief map (similar to the Fund's project at Dantes View in Death Valley) for the Mather Overlook on Wheeler Peak Scenic Drive. This three-dimensional representation of the Wheeler Peak cirque facilitates visual recognition of terrain features, increases understanding through tactile exploration, and gives sight-impaired visitors the opportunity to better comprehend the park.
 
The map was installed in August 2020. In Fall 2022, another Fund-sponsored grant supported the park in a complementary project at the site, installing two new educational signs that allow visitors to better understand the geological forces that have affected the Great Basin and to imagine the post-glacial landscape at the end of the last ice age. The two elements together have created a more rich experience for all visitors at Mather Overlook.
 
Project Cost: $54,942                                                                          Project Completed: 2020
     The Fund for People in Parks: $53,742
     National Park Service: $1,200