About parkverdict

parkverdict is an independent guide to the United States national parks. We cover every unit the National Park Service manages - not just the famous 63 "National Parks", but all 474 monuments, historic sites, seashores, recreation areas and battlefields - and we answer one question for each: is it worth your trip, and what is it best for?

Why we exist

The official park listings are comprehensive but flat: they tell you what exists, not how it compares or who it suits. We add the layer that is missing - an Experience Score computed the same way for every unit, honest rankings by what you actually want from a trip (stargazing, hiking, a day out with kids), and a plain-language verdict. You should be able to shortlist a trip in minutes.

How we are funded

parkverdict is free to read and funded by advertising, including ads served through Google AdSense. Advertising never influences a score or a ranking. Our scores are computed from public data by a fixed formula (see How we score); no park, tourism board or advertiser can pay to rank higher or to have a verdict softened.

Where our data comes from

Park facts - descriptions, activities, fees, hours, coordinates and photographs - come from the official NPS Data API, which is US federal public-domain content. Individual photographs may carry their own credit, which we display on each park page. We link back to every park's official nps.gov listing so you can confirm current conditions before you travel.

Our use of AI, and the human gate

We use AI tools to help draft and structure per-park write-ups from the real, verified NPS data. Everything is reviewed by a human editor against the source before it publishes, and the Experience Score and rankings are produced by a transparent formula, not by a model's guess. We never publish an un-reviewed machine draft, and we never invent facts, ratings or photos.

Corrections

Parks change - fees, hours and closures especially. If you find something out of date or wrong, tell us and we will investigate and correct it. We are not affiliated with the National Park Service.