National Park Service

The official app for all 420+ parks

National Park Service

App stats

Version: 1.17.1 (Last updated: 2024-11-07)
Creation date: 2021-02-01
Permissions
Location: approximate location (network-based), precise location (GPS and network-based)
Photos/Media/Files: read the contents of your USB storage, modify or delete the contents of your USB storage
Storage: read the contents of your USB storage, modify or delete the contents of your USB storage
Camera: take pictures and videos
Wi-Fi connection information: view Wi-Fi connections
Other:
  • view network connections
  • pair with Bluetooth devices
  • access Bluetooth settings
  • full network access
  • run at startup
  • control vibration
  • prevent device from sleeping

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App summary

Let a park ranger be your guide! The National Park Service App is the official app for all 420+ national parks. Download parks before your visit and use the app when there is no internet.

Find interactive maps, tours of park places, on-the-ground accessibility information, and more. The app was created by National Park Service staff—people who know national parks—to help you make the most of your visit. With all of these parks and a brand new app, it will take some time to finish creating content for each park. If you don’t find what you’re looking for now, check back regularly as our rangers work to complete the experience for each of our parks.

Unlike other apps, NPS Mobile takes authoritative information from park rangers and combines it with a great suite of features. Here’s a quick look at some of those features.

Interactive Maps: Each park has a detailed map that includes points of interest, along with roads, trails, and other information to plan your trip.

Park Tours: What is there to see? Self-guided tours take you to interesting places in the park. Discover popular destinations as well as places off the beaten track. It’s like having a ranger by your side to guide your trip, giving you suggestions for places to go and directions to get there. Many tours feature audio—simply press play, lock your screen, and place your phone in your pocket to immerse yourself as you listen.

Amenities: It's the little—and sometimes not so little—things that can make or break a park visit. Learn where you can find and access transportation, food, restrooms, shopping, and more.

Accessibility: The app offers a fully accessible experience with tools to benefit visitors with accessibility needs, such as audio descriptions of exhibits along trails and roads and in visitor centers.

Offline Use: No internet access? No problem! You can download content from entire parks for offline use. It’s especially handy if you’re exploring remote areas in parks or concerned about data limits.

Share Your Visit: Tell your friends and family about the fun things you did by creating and sharing virtual postcards with scenes from the park.

Things to Do: What do you want to do in a park—hike? Take a bus tour or scenic drive? Visit a museum? Join a ranger program? Become a junior ranger? Discover all the fun, entertaining, and educational activities parks have to offer.

News, Alerts & Events: What’s happening? Get news and events for all parks—or selected parks of your choosing.

And that’s just a start! The NPS Mobile app also includes passport stamp locations, fees, visitor center hours and locations, and more.

This one single app includes every one of the 420+ sites in the National Park System, no matter how big or small. Here are just some of the parks you'll find: Acadia, Arches, Big Bend, Bryce Canyon, Crater Lake, Death Valley, Everglades, Glacier, Golden Gate, Grand Canyon, Grand Teton, Great Smokies, Joshua Tree, Mammoth Cave, Mount Rainier, Mount Rushmore, Olympic, Redwoods, Rocky Mountain, Sequoia and King Canyon, Shenandoah, Statue of Liberty, Yellowstone, Yosemite, and Zion.

User reviews

These summaries are automatically generated weekly using AI based on recent user reviews. Google Play Store does not verify user reviews, so some user reviews may be inaccurate, spammy, or outdated.
Pros
  • Lots of information about each park available.
  • Useful for planning trips to national parks.
  • Ability to download maps and information for offline use.
  • Self-guided tours are a notable feature.
  • Good organization of information.
Cons
  • Bugs and slow performance when downloading maps.
  • Offline information often does not load without cell service.
  • Lack of multidevice sync and backup options.
  • Confusing user experience with inconsistent information organization.
  • Can't easily find and view trails on the maps.
Most mentioned
  • Issues with downloading maps and accessing offline information.
  • Need for improved offline functionality.
  • Request for better organization and navigation within the app.
  • Desire for additional features like user accounts for syncing.
  • Frustrations with app performance and bugs.
User reviews
I love the national parks, but this app has been nothing but frustrating. I just went to 4 parks. I downloaded all 4 ahead of time. But when I was in the area, all I could get is blanks with spinning circles. And that was while on WiFi. So basically useless. I would submit screen shots off Google Play was any better.
by Pete Shea, 2024-11-02

This is one of the best apps I have. From planning trips to getting updated information on the parks, it has the information you need in order to fully enjoy our National Parks. There is so much well organized information. The self guided tours are an excellent part of the park guides. There is a 'Download for future use' feature that is very helpful since many of the parks do not have good cell coverage.
by Steve Conrad, 2024-10-05

Extremely slow. Can't download maps for offline use on Android, the app just says there is no Internet and gets stuck at downloading at 46%. Have been trying for 3 days, cleared cache and storage for the app, uninstalled and reinstalled the app. App is pretty useless if you can't download maps for use in parks with no cell service. I gave it two stars because I'm sure some of the features would be good if the app wasn't so slow and buggy. Maybe if they fix the app I'll try it again.
by David Parsons, 2024-09-30
View all user reviews

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