14.3 million visitors a year
across 25 parks
Over 1 million scans
a year on park signage
300+ signs
saved from replacement
Three Rivers Park District manages 30,000 acres of land across 25 parks. With a vast network of trails, facilities, and programs, the Park District needed an efficient way to connect physical signage with digital resources while maintaining flexibility across its extensive park system.
With Rebrandly, Three Rivers found a comprehensive link management solution, simplifying QR-code communication throughout their park network. The solution has reduced maintenance costs and facilitated the collection of valuable park usage data, all while enhancing the experience for millions of park visitors each year.
"Having a short, easily intuitive link is powerful for us."
Amanda HuberGIS Administrator
Overview
Parks connect people with nature, but large park systems face an inherent challenge in providing visitors with the information they need to enjoy the park’s offerings.
Three Rivers Park District manages 25 parks around the Twin Cities. Serving seven million annual visitors, the Park District manages everything from hiking trails and boat launches to art installations and seasonal events.
The Park District needed to connect physical locations with digital information, provide visitors with easy access to resources, and collect data on park foot traffic. Traditional methods of information delivery, like signs and flyers, were inflexible, costly to update, and did not provide insights into visitor behavior.
The Challenge: Managing communication across a huge geographical area
With 450 permanent employees and 1,500 seasonal staff coordinating countless activities from hiking trails to art installations, communication at Three Rivers Park District is complex and critical.
Scannable QR codes are a convenient and creative way to connect visitors with information when they are out in parks. These QR codes appeared on trail markers, interpretive signs, facility entrances, and printed materials, creating critical bridges between physical spaces and digital resources.
However, as QR code usage expanded across the park system, the Park District needed a link management system to maintain these essential communication channels without constantly reprinting signs every time a QR code needed to be updated.
“Having a short, intuitive link is powerful for us,” explains Amanda Huber, Geographic Information Services (GIS) administrator, “Being able to update destination URLs on the fly while keeping the URL the same is essential, especially with signage in the field.”
The solution: Centralized link management across departments
After thoroughly evaluating multiple options, the IT/GIS department chose Rebrandly as the organization’s link management solution. “We chose Rebrandly because it provided the right balance of simplicity and powerful features,” says Simon Morgan, Senior Manager of GIS and Business Applications. “The ability to update destination URLs without changing the short link was essential for our physical signage strategy.”
Integration capabilities were a decisive factor in their selection. Rebrandly’s connections with tools like Zapier allowed the team to automate workflows with their existing systems. This integration potential ensured Rebrandly would fit seamlessly into their technology ecosystem rather than becoming another isolated tool for their team to manage.
The Park District deployed Rebrandly-generated branded QR codes extensively throughout their properties. They use QR codes in a variety of ways:
• On marketing materials to publicize events and activities
• To provide information to visitors on one of their multiple “art walks,” as well as interpretive signage
• As a method of payment for boat launches
The IT/GIS department led the implementation, establishing six branded domains across the park system for various purposes. They created separate workspaces for different departments, including Marketing and IT/GIS, allowing teams to manage their links independently while maintaining consistent branding and analytics.
Impact: Enhanced visitor experiences and operational efficiency
With reliable link management in place, the Park District expanded their digital offerings through interactive art tours, poetry trails with multimedia components, and intuitive wayfinding systems—all accessible through visitors’ personal devices. Remote payment options eliminated vulnerable cash boxes at boat launches and other facilities.
The analytics capabilities provided unprecedented visibility into visitor engagement. Over the past year, the Park District collected nearly one million clicks on public maps, revealing patterns in visitor behavior and interests. This lets them calibrate park development and resources based on estimated foot traffic. Additionally, language preference data helps inform future multilingual content development.
When a vendor server migration unexpectedly changed hundreds of destination URLs, the IT/GIS team programmatically updated all affected destination URLs without changing the short links, using Rebrandly’s API. This single action prevented the need to replace over 300 physical signs throughout their parks, saving substantial time and money while maintaining continuity for visitors.
“It’s a sign of a good product that I don’t feel the need to have regular contact with anyone as the manager of the team,” notes Simon Morgan. “If I’m not talking to anyone at Rebrandly on a regular basis, then things are going well.”
Three Rivers Park District continues to expand its use of Rebrandly. It plans to implement its wayfinding program across all parks and explore geofenced routing capabilities for region-specific experiences. The solution has become a critical infrastructure component supporting its mission to connect millions of visitors with enriching park experiences.
