The key

National Parks51 Every national park in the lower 48, all 51 of them.
National Monuments5 Already protected as a national monument, the designation that has grown into many of today's parks.
Federal Land73 Federal land already owned or protected, but not a park or monument. Think national forests, grasslands, BLM, wildlife refuges, seashores, preserves, recreation areas, and wilderness.
State51 A state park, state forest, or state preserve.
Private/Mixed34 Mostly private, or a patchwork of different owners.

Distance gradients

Flip the Distance gradient switch at the top of the ☰ Layers menu. It shades the country by how far you are from the nearest park currently shown. Green is close, red is 200 miles or more.

Then turn park types on and off below it and the gradient updates live. Start with national parks alone to see the gaps, then add the other layers to watch them fill.

How to read this

  • Every metropolitan area in the lower 48 is shown, the places where roughly 86% of Americans live.
  • Each metro is paired with the most national-park-worthy natural area within reach: Almost always within 100 miles with a few exceptions.
  • Distances are straight-line from the metro's main city; the grey dotted lines on the map link each city to its candidate.
  • Grades are completely subjective, sometimes not at all scientific, and even in rare cases completely made up.

On its face, protecting more parks for the future sounds like a fantastic idea. That National Park designation protects precious green space for animals, people, and from destruction. However, this article argues one final reason the fight for more parks should be an open and shut case. Distance.

"For the benefit and enjoyment of the people."

Yellowstone National Park Act, 1872

A promise to the whole country, not only the people who happen to live near a park.

The problem is that parks aren't spread out the way people are. Most of them sit in a handful of western states and far off from city centers. For most of the country's population the nearest national park is a long drive. This map pairs every metro in the lower 48 with the best park-worthy wild land within reach. Playing with the overlays you will see the gaps are easy to spot.

A park you can't realistically reach doesn't suit the majority of us outside one big trip a year if you are lucky. Distance is money, logistics, days off work, somewhere to stay and more. The farther away the parks are, the more they belong to the people who can control these factors the easiest. Time spent in the wild is good for people, and the chance to have it shouldn't come down to where you happen to live.

The ultimate point of this document is simple. There's no shortage of land worth protecting within reach of the country's people, and this map marks it, city by city. Protect more of it, so every part of the country has a real park close enough to reach. Whether it's a day trip, quick weekend, or extended stay in a new park. That's the 1872 promise, finally kept for everyone.

Find a mistake? Know a park we missed?

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