The Official NPS App – Your Ultimate National Park Companion!
Download parks before your visit and use the app when there is no internet.
• Explore 420+ national parks effortlessly with interactive maps, self-guided tours, and essential on-the-ground information.
• Interactive Maps: Plan your trip with detailed park maps, including points of interest, trails, and essential information.
• Park Tours: Discover park highlights with self-guided tours, just like having a ranger by your side.
• Amenities: Find transportation, dining, restrooms, and more for a hassle-free visit.
• Plan Your Visit: Access fee and pass information, operating hours, and other essential details to help you plan your visit.
• Accessibility: Enjoy a fully accessible experience with audio descriptions for points of interest and exhibits, making it inclusive for all.
• Offline Use: No internet? No worries! Download park content for offline exploration, perfect for remote areas.
• Park of the Day Widget: Add it to your iOS widgets and discover a new NPS-managed site each day.
• Things to Do: Explore hiking, bus tours, museums, ranger programs, and more for a fun-filled visit.
• News, Alerts & Events: Stay updated with park news and events.
• Passport Stamps, Fees & More: Access park-specific details all in one place.
Discover all 420+ National Park System sites, from iconic landmarks like Yellowstone and Yosemite to hidden gems. Download the official NPS App now for an unforgettable park adventure!
After the latest update (1.16) the app was no longer opening! It kept crashing but looks like you fixed it! Thank you so very much! It’s a nice build now that’s it’s working again. For everyone out there who was having issues like me, this is what I did to make it work again. I had to completely delete the app and then reinstall it. Unfortunately I lost all my data in the process. That is a bummer and have to start logging all my stops again but it’s worth it. The version is very smooth and doesn’t freeze up anymore! It was worth it. This app is great and so are the people who work on it for us. Also, for those of you who wants your lists back, they are still there, under favorites you can make as many new lists as you like just like before. This app helps tremendously with all your NPS needs and planning. May I remind everyone also that’s it’s free! Safe travels everyone and happy exploring!
Developer Response
Thank you for the great review. We're happy you're enjoying visiting parks and using the app along the way. We appreciate the suggestion about map clustering and promise we'll take a fresh look at how the pins combine. We agree it's nice to see your accomplishments all at once.
Useful app but info not available from other devices
OBX111
The information on the NPS Park app is very helpful. It contains detailed information about the parks, history, access, parking, lodging, and other amenities.A few areas of improvement would be: 1. to be able to retrieve information saved on one device from another device For example, if you save all the parks that you have visited over the years onto one phone, you can’t retrieve it from a tablet or laptop. On top of which once you get a new phone there’s no way to transfer the information. You have to enter it all over again since there’s no way to retrieve that history.2. The app has a lot of good information but is not the most intuitive to navigate. Frequently you are told where you can locate information, but there is no link provided to let you go to that page.3. A note to the NPS developers. While there are buttons on each page that ask whether the page was helpful, there is no place to provide general feedback so that the end-user could provide suggestions.
Love the offline features
The Judy
It’s great to be able to download a park, and you can easily do that even over a wireless connection. I like that it notes parks near me and prompts me to take a look at them. I wish the mapping feature was more resilient. For example, when wandering through the National Mall I want to be able to look at a map that has the (hundreds of) points of interest on them so when I’m next to one of the (is it thousands?) monuments I can look at my phone zoomed in, click on the pin, read the blurb, then easily go back to the map. Some parks have maps you can navigate, some don’t, and most require you to go back to the park Home Screen to get the map rather than having a button back to the map. I will always want one of the printed brochures. But with this app, I could get behind having a free app and paying $1 for a brochure. Or, like Smithsonian museums do, ask for a $1 donation for the printed map.
A Love Letter to NPS
A Love Letter to NPS
I have visited 10 national parks - they are an extraordinary gift to the world. A favorite journey of mine was to The Badlands in September 2023. My journey there was through the Thunder Basin Grasslands and the purpose of my journey was a reflection of my great love for the writing of Willa Cather - to see in person the native prairie grass she wrote about. . I was really stunned, upon landing at the NPS visitor center, to find a beautiful passage from Cather’s “My Antonia”: “The grass was the country, as the water is the sea. The red of the grass made all the great prairie the color of wine stains… and there was so much motion in it; the whole country seems, somehow, to be running.” When I spoke to the NPS ranger on duty behind the desk of my astonishment at seeing this great American author quoted, he teared up! Please Stay Strong NPS! We need you more than ever… when evil ones finally die, as everyone must eventually, future generations will be there to build you up stronger than ever. Xo
Update to v2.8 that includes:
- Satellite Connection Support: Detects ultra-constrained/satellite networks and activates "Low Data Mode"
- Transit data and maps for a subset of parks
- Other bug fixes and enhancements
Version 2.8.2
The developer, National Park Service, indicated that the app’s privacy practices may include handling of data as described below. For more information, see the developer’s privacy policy .
Data Not Linked to You
The following data may be collected but it is not linked to your identity:
Usage Data
Diagnostics
Privacy practices may vary, for example, based on the features you use or your age. Learn More
The developer indicated that this app supports the following accessibility features. Learn More
Supported Features
VoiceOver
Larger Text
Dark Interface
Differentiate Without Color Alone
Reduced Motion
Captions
Audio Descriptions
Information
Seller
National Park Service
Size
111.8 MB
Category
Travel
Compatibility
Requires iOS 15.0 or later.
iPhone Requires iOS 15.0 or later.
iPad Requires iPadOS 15.0 or later.
iPod touch Requires iOS 15.0 or later.
Mac Requires macOS 12.0 or later and a Mac with Apple M1 chip or later.
