Press Release: Xplorer Maps Partners with Shenandoah National Park Association to Release Shenandoah National Park Map
World-renowned artist Chris Robitaille, co-founder of Xplorer Maps, rendered the custom map using an antique, old-world style and featuring many of the iconic images from the national park located in Virginia. Situated in the Blue Ridge Mountains, the park spans eight counties and encompasses a stretch of the Appalachian Trail. Produced in partnership with the Shenandoah National Park Association, Xplorer Maps will donate a percentage of proceeds in perpetuity from map sales to the association to support their ongoing education, conservation and preservation efforts for the park.
“Creating this map has been an exciting and truly unique project,” according to Greg Robitaille, CEO and co-founder of Xplorer Maps. “Through the collaborative partnership, we have developed a map that is entirely custom and original and will help visitors spread the word about the park’s history and highlights while connecting people and place in a deeper and more meaningful way.”
Greta Miller, executive director of the Shenandoah National Park Association, said Xplorer Maps did an excellent job designing the map, and she thinks it will be in high demand among park visitors. “The park is so unique. It’s long and slender, and Skyline Drive is the reason many people come here. Bears are also a big thing. The map really illustrates the important features of the park.”
Miller first became interested in working with Xplorer Maps when she saw the company’s map of the Great Smoky Mountains –produced in partnership with the Great Smoky Mountains Association – at a trade show. “The map drew me in,” she said. The images were beautiful and iconic, and we didn’t have anything that depicted Shenandoah that way.”
Rendering the long, narrow shape of the Shenandoah National Park was challenging at first but then turned into an opportunity, Robitaille said. “The shape allowed us to feature certain elements that we were aiming to highlight, giving the artwork better balance without crowding the concentrated nature of the park.”
One of the most compelling aspects of the Shenandoah map is that for the first time ever, Xplorer Maps used a cursive script for the title, Robitaille said. “The flowing hand-drawn style the artist, Chris, chose seemed to naturally fit with the mystique of the Blue Ridge Mountains, the fog-shrouded hills and the cultural connections to the region.”
This fine-art illustrated map of Shenandoah National Park is available at: www.xplorermaps.com. It will soon be available online at the Shenandoah National Park Association (www.snpbooks.org) and in select visitor centers and retail shops throughout the Blue Ridge region.
About Xplorer Maps
Xplorer Maps connects people and place one map at a time. Using these one-of-a-kind, hand-drawn illustrated custom maps to effectively “tell the story,” the goal is to make memorable and meaningful lifetime connections between people and place. Additionally, Xplorer Maps works diligently with official national park partners to ensure historical and geographic accuracy, educational merit, interpretive engagement, biological diversity and cultural relevance. A portion of all proceeds are donated in perpetuity to Shenandoah National Park Association to help protect and preserve the special places that provide inspiration for the maps.
About Shenandoah National Park Association
Shenandoah National Park Association is a non-profit organization that is dedicated to increasing public understanding, appreciation and stewardship of Shenandoah National Park by providing interpretive/educational materials, financial support and services in resource education.
