Some people refer to our National Parks as “America’s backyard” and rightfully so. These parks represent the diverse topography of our country, and provide us with the opportunity to connect with nature. While the spaces dedicated to national parks accounts for only 3.4% of U.S. land, that equates to 84.6 million acres available to explore! If you’re anything like me, looking at the over 400+ parks and planning which to visit and when can be daunting. Thankfully, the National Park Service is trying to ease the logistics burden with their new app.
This new app is a much needed resource; consolidating all park information into one spot. Previously, every park had their own app (some better than others) and took up valuable memory space on your device. Now, you can search each park in one place and find all the information you’re searching for.
The app was created by National Park Service Staff, so it is FULL of important details. There are interactive maps that show points of interest, road closures, trail details, and more. There are also self-guided park tours, some with audio, that allow you to learn history and fun facts along the way while you go at your own pace. For example, you can go on a self-guided audio tour of the Star Wars filming locations in Death Valley National Park!
If you’ve planned a trip to one of these National Parks before, then you know how many details and how much planning can go into creating the perfect trip. Some parks are less busy, while some require camping reservations almost a year in advance! This is especially true this year while we are all dealing with the pandemic, and parks are working to keep visitors healthy. Many parks are limiting capacity and requiring reservations prior to entry, adding another to the logistics nightmare! In the app, you can get the latest news and events for each park and set alerts for important dates for reservations. You can also create lists of your favorite parks, the highlights and places you don’t want to miss on your visit!
My favorite feature of the app is the ability to save a particular park’s information for offline use. Depending on which carrier you use for your phone, service can be spotty in many of these remote places. In the app, you have the ability to download and save an entire park’s information to your phone with the click of a button. This allows you to view valuable information like trail maps, bus schedules, bathroom locations, and more on your phone without requiring a connection so that you won’t get caught in the wilderness without knowing how to find your way back. Download the info to your device before you visit a park, and then when you’re gone you can turn that park “off” and the space will be freed up on your phone for whatever place you’re planning next.
We are excited to put this app to use this summer while we try to check MANY more National Parks off our bucket list! Let us know what park you want to visit next below!