How we check facts

Every number on ParkFacts comes from a public federal data set. Each claim on a page links to the fact it rests on, and each fact links to its source.

Where the data comes from

• Fees, passes, hours, campgrounds and things to do: the National Park Service Data API, which park staff keep up to date, and the NPS Passes page for America the Beautiful pass prices.
• Visits by month and year: NPS Visitor Use Statistics. These count recreation visits (entries), not unique people.
• Campsites: the Recreation Information Database (RIDB) from Recreation.gov, covering campgrounds run by the National Park Service, the Forest Service, the Army Corps of Engineers, the Bureau of Land Management and other agencies. RIDB data is licensed under CC BY 4.0.
• Rules: the Code of Federal Regulations (36 CFR), for example the national pet rule 36 CFR 2.15.

How a page is made

1. We download the data sets and match each park and campground across them.
2. Code builds every table, fee list, chart and site count straight from the data.
3. A writing step explains what the facts mean for a visitor in plain English. Every number carries a reference to its fact.
4. A script checks every number and flags words that go beyond the facts. Then a separate review step checks each claim against the source before the page is published.

Limits

Fees, opening dates and campground details change, sometimes at short notice for weather, fire or repairs. Our pages show what the official records list on the date shown at the top of each page. Always confirm with the official park or Recreation.gov page before you travel. We do not cover hotels, tours, weather forecasts or driving directions, and we do not rank parks or campgrounds.

Credits

Campsite data: Recreation Information Database (RIDB), Recreation.gov, licensed under CC BY 4.0; ParkFacts has selected, combined and summarized it. NPS data and federal regulations are in the public domain.