Ensuring a World-Class Visitor Experience

Visits to national parks are projected to soar to over 500 million a year by 2040, up from 300 million today. How can we prepare for the crowds, steward our parks, and still create memorable visitor experiences?

Santa Monica Mountains National Recreation Area

Visitors to many of the most popular national parks increasingly have had to face congested roadways, filled parking lots, and crowded trails. We can — and must — do better to ensure an exceptional visitor experience, by all measures, especially with our parks poised to attract even more people in the future.

NPF and NPS have partnered to build the vision of a next-century visitor experience powered by digital data, tools, and experiences.

We continue to anticipate future challenges

We embrace opportunities in areas as diverse as transportation, campgrounds, workforce development, and storytelling to provide an efficient and inspiring visitor experience.

Here’s how you can ensure a world-class visitor experience

Smart Technology & Smart Parks

Your investment in the parks of tomorrow will ensure memorable visitor experiences for generations to come, even as the popularity of parks increases.
Priorities include advancing digital strategies and other innovative approaches that bring park experiences to more people and expand the ways in which visitors engage with parks.

A Renewed Visitor Experience

With your support, we will work with NPS to explore new and more efficient modes of transportation within our parks. We will also support NPS in their efforts to upgrade visitor centers and campgrounds as we reimagine the visitor experience of the future.

National Parks Innovation Lab

NPS and NPF will establish a leading edge National Parks Innovation Lab. It will bring together park experts, scholars, philanthropists, corporate leaders, and technologists to debate, challenge, learn, and plan for the needs of the national parks and National Park Service.
Most importantly, the Innovation Lab will be a place for both “thinking” and “doing”—a hub for innovative and creative dialogue followed by plans and actions to directly fund solutions to the challenges within and around parks.

Impact Highlights

Parks of the Future

Reimagining the future of our national parks and how we evolve the visitor experience.

Transforming Employee Housing

A historic gift is helping provide innovative solutions to employee housing in Yellowstone.

Enhancing Visitor Experience at Lincoln Memorial

An immersive museum will strengthen the way visitors experience and learn about the history of the monument.

Upgrading the Fleet

A fleet of electric buses strengthen sustainability efforts at Zion National Park.

Greening the Parks

Reducing environmental impact and protecting vital resources in parks.

"National parks are America’s treasures. It is up to each of us to protect these places and the stories they reveal for generations that follow."

"Your partnership will bring about transformative change as we address the urgent challenges facing our parks today."

Chuck Sams
19th Director
National Park Service