NPS National Parks Scraper

Extract all 474+ US National Park Service parks with descriptions, activities, entrance fees, operating hours, contacts, and GPS coordinates via the NPS API.

What does NPS National Parks Scraper do?

This Actor connects directly to the National Park Service's official API to fetch comprehensive data about all US parks and protected areas managed by the NPS. It extracts park names, descriptions, activities, entrance fees, contact information, location coordinates, and more—giving you structured, verified data about every NPS unit from Acadia to Zion.

Get instant access to:

• 474+ NPS parks and monuments with official data
• Real-time entrance fees and operating information
• Visitor activities (hiking, camping, biking, etc.)
• Contact details (phone, email for each park)
• GPS coordinates for mapping and geolocation
• State filtering to focus on specific regions

Perfect for travel apps, tourism planning, conservation research, and location-based services.

Why use NPS National Parks Scraper?

Business use cases:

• Build travel guide applications with authoritative NPS data
• Create park recommendation engines based on activities and locations
• Develop conservation and environmental monitoring tools
• Power tourism and hospitality marketing with verified park information
• Support geographic information systems (GIS) projects
• Provide real-time availability data for park facilities

Advantages over manual data collection:

• No web scraping needed — uses the official NPS API directly
• Always current — automatically synced with NPS records
• Structured, clean data — ready for databases and analysis
• No robots.txt conflicts — API access is the approved method
• Reliable and fast — API provides consistent, immediate results
• Schedule runs automatically — fetch park data weekly or monthly on Apify

How to use NPS National Parks Scraper

Step 1: Register for a free NPS API key

1. Visit https://www.nps.gov/subjects/developer/get-started.htm
2. Click "Register for an API key"
3. Fill in the short form with your email and name
4. Your API key appears instantly via email
5. Keep it safe — do not share it publicly

Step 2: Open the Actor on Apify

1. Click the Input tab below
2. Paste your API key in the "NPS API Key" field
3. (Optional) Enter a state code like CA, TX, or NY to filter parks
4. Set Max Results to the number of parks you want (default: 500 = all)

Step 3: Run the Actor

1. Click Start (or Refresh if you see old results)
2. Monitor the Run log to see progress
3. Once done, click the Output tab to see your parks dataset
4. Download as JSON, CSV, Excel, or HTML

Step 4: Use your data

• Import the CSV into Excel or Google Sheets for analysis
• Load JSON data into your database or API
• Use the GPS coordinates to plot parks on a map
• Filter by activities to find hiking-friendly parks
• Query entrance fees for budget planning

Input

Parameter	Type	Default	Description
apiKey	string	DEMO_KEY	Your NPS API key from https://www.nps.gov/subjects/developer/get-started.htm. The DEMO_KEY works for testing but is rate-limited.
stateCode	string	(empty)	Optional 2-letter state code (e.g., CA, TX, NY). Leave empty to get parks from all states.
maxResults	integer	500	Maximum number of parks to return. Range: 1–1000. Set to 474 to get all NPS parks.

Output

The Actor outputs a dataset of park records. Each record contains:

{
  "parkCode": "acad",
  "name": "Acadia",
  "fullName": "Acadia National Park",
  "description": "Acadia National Park protects 47,390 acres of Mount Desert Island...",
  "url": "https://www.nps.gov/acad/index.htm",
  "states": "ME",
  "latitude": "44.409286",
  "longitude": "-68.247501",
  "designation": "National Park",
  "phone": "2072883338",
  "email": "acadia_information@nps.gov",
  "entranceFee": 35.0,
  "activities": ["Biking", "Camping", "Hiking", "Horseback Riding", "Skiing"],
  "topics": ["Animals", "Birds", "Geology"],
  "weatherInfo": "Acadia has cool summers and cold winters...",
  "directionsInfo": "Acadia is located on Mount Desert Island in Maine...",
  "directionsUrl": "https://www.nps.gov/acad/planyourvisit/directions.htm"
}

You can download the dataset in JSON, CSV, HTML, or Excel format directly from the Output tab.

Data Fields

Field	Type	Description
parkCode	string	Unique identifier for the park (e.g., acad, yose)
name	string	Short name of the park (e.g., Acadia)
fullName	string	Official full name (e.g., Acadia National Park)
description	string	Detailed description of the park
url	string	Official NPS website for the park
states	string	Comma-separated state codes where the park is located
latitude	string	GPS latitude coordinate
longitude	string	GPS longitude coordinate
designation	string	Park type (e.g., National Park, National Monument)
phone	string	Main phone number for park inquiries
email	string	Contact email address
entranceFee	number	Standard entrance fee (USD). 0 if free entry.
activities	array	List of visitor activities (e.g., hiking, camping, biking)
topics	array	Park themes (e.g., animals, geology, history)
weatherInfo	string	Seasonal weather patterns
directionsInfo	string	Directions and access information
directionsUrl	string	URL for detailed directions on NPS website

Pricing / Cost estimation

Good news: Using the NPS API is completely free. There are no usage fees for either the NPS API or this Actor.

Cost on Apify platform:

• Compute cost: ~$0.0001–$0.001 per run (depending on number of parks requested)
• Storage cost: Minimal (the dataset is small — ~500 parks)
• Total cost per run: Usually under $0.01 for a complete dataset

Free tier: Apify free plan gives you credits that cover this Actor multiple times per month.

Tips to minimize costs:

• Use the stateCode parameter to fetch parks for only one state instead of all 474
• Set maxResults to a smaller number if you don't need all parks
• Run once per week or month instead of continuous scraping

Tips and advanced options

Filter parks by state

Instead of fetching all 474 parks, specify a state code to get only parks in that region:

• California: stateCode: CA → Gets ~30 parks
• Texas: stateCode: TX → Gets ~3 parks
• Alaska: stateCode: AK → Gets ~10 parks
• Utah: stateCode: UT → Gets ~5 parks

Use the DEMO_KEY for testing

The DEMO_KEY is rate-limited but works for testing. For production use, register your own free API key at https://www.nps.gov/subjects/developer/get-started.htm.

Extract activities and topics

The activities and topics fields are arrays. You can use these to:

• Filter parks that offer camping or hiking
• Find parks focused on wildlife or geology
• Build activity-based recommendations

Example CSV analysis in Excel: Sort by activities column to find all parks offering "Biking".

Set reasonable maxResults

• All parks: maxResults: 474 (takes ~15-30 seconds)
• Single state: maxResults: 50 (fast, usually completes in <5 seconds)
• Quick test: maxResults: 10 (immediate, <2 seconds)

FAQ and support

Q: Can I use DEMO_KEY in production? A: No. DEMO_KEY is rate-limited and meant for testing. Register your own free key at https://www.nps.gov/subjects/developer/get-started.htm.

Q: How often does the NPS update park data? A: Park descriptions, hours, fees, and contact info are updated regularly by the NPS. This Actor always fetches the current data.

Q: Can I scrape state parks or private tourism sites? A: This Actor only covers federal NPS parks. For state parks or other sites, you'll need a different tool.

Q: What if a park has no entrance fee? A: The entranceFee field will be 0. Some parks are free to enter (most national monuments, some historic sites).

Q: How do I map the parks on a map? A: Use the latitude and longitude fields. Export the output to CSV, then upload to Google Maps, Mapbox, or any GIS tool.

Q: What's the difference between parkCode and name? A: parkCode is a unique 3–4 letter identifier (e.g., acad). name is the short name (e.g., Acadia). fullName is the official title (e.g., Acadia National Park).

Having issues? Check the Actor Issues tab for known problems or to report a bug. You can also contact the Actor maintainer for a custom solution.

Legal disclaimer

This Actor uses the official National Park Service API, which is provided for public use. All data extracted is public domain information. This tool respects all NPS terms of service and API usage guidelines.

Data usage rights:

• NPS park data is public information from a US government agency
• You may use this data for research, commercial projects, and public distribution
• Always attribute the data to the National Park Service: "Data source: US National Park Service"
• Do not misrepresent the data or claim it as your own

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Questions? Visit https://www.nps.gov/subjects/developer/faq.htm for NPS API documentation.

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