Hi Mike et al.  One reliable place to go for interpretive plan docs is the NPS Harpers Ferry Center website under Interpretive Planning, found at:  http://www.nps.gov/hfc/services/interp/ip-lrip.cfm.  Scroll down the page and you'll find about 50 full-text pdf examples of NPS Long-Range Interpretive Plans for sites ranging from big parks to small historic sites like the Ulysses S. Grant house (National Historic Site).  You'll also find a lot of info on the NPS site for interpretive planning generally, and how to go about it.

Full disclosure: I am a Certified Interpretive Planner and a vendor on a 5-year contract with NPS to develop these plans, so I've developed/written about a dozen NPS plans so far (including Grant site).  Of course, the NPS approach and template existed LONG before I came along, and NPS has been a real standard-bearer for interpretive planning for years. 

For your own site, you may not need/want all the parts and pieces of a full-scale NPS-style plan, but you can pull what you need most. One thing I would caution against in pursuing an interpretive plan:  Always "consider the source" and the profit center of the firm when or if you evaluate/consider an outside plan or planner.  For example:  if the interpretive plan preparer is primarily a cultural resources research firm with a track record in academic-style exhaustive documentary reports, you're probably gonna get a plan that's very academic (even though an IP is meant to help you communicate with general visitors, not academics or others in our field).  Likewise,  if the preparer is an exhibit design firm with a track record in wayside signs, you're likely to get a plan heavy on wayside signs (rather than a balanced plan that selectively and thoughtfully integrates personal tours, print materials, downloadable print/audio/video, and interior and exterior exhibits. 

 

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