Reports
Data reports on US national parks and public lands
5 original analyses computed from the 476 national park and public-land units we score. Every figure is reproducible from the public record, every write-up is edited and dated, and nothing here exists on the official sites.
Start with the founding study, which explains the Experience Score and what 476 scores reveal, then pick the question you came with: whether free parks are worth it, which states have the most to do, what a low score really means, or how the designations differ. Each report ends with a method paragraph and links to the units it names.
- Start hereWe scored every US national park and public land. Here is what the data saysThe founding study: the score distribution across all 476 units, the most documented units, free hidden gems, and how the states compare.Published
- Free national parks score about as well as paid ones. The data, and the one caveatHow the free-entry units compare with the fee-charging ones on the Experience Score, which designations are most often free, and why the formula itself explains part of the gap.Published
- Which states have the most to do in their national parks? A state-by-state read of the dataEvery state with at least three units we score, ranked by average Experience Score and by documented activities per unit, with the states that lead on count, on breadth and on free entry.Published
- What the lowest-scoring parks have in common, and why a low score is not a bad tripThe units scoring under 55 share a profile: single-purpose designations, few documented activities, often free. Here is that profile in numbers, against the units that score 85 and up.Published
- National Park, Preserve, Monument, Refuge: what each label means for a visit, by the numbersEvery designation with at least four units we score, compared on average Experience Score, documented activities, camping and free entry, with the top unit of each.Published