Google adds 4 updates to help users explore national parks

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Grand Prismatic Spring at Yellowstone National Park in Wyoming is shown in this photo. Google is releasing updates to help users navigate national parks. David Restivo National Park Service

National park tourists can now spend less time aimlessly searching for a trail, remarkable landmark, or intended route thanks to the latest updates from Google.

The four updates were created with the goal of helping people navigate national parks better, especially as parks start to see more visitors.

These updates for iOS and Android users were announced on April 11, just in time for summer travel.

The updates aim to help visitors to the national park find information in one place, including what they need to know about attractions, trails, driving directions and maps, Google Maps group product manager Michael Curtes said in a press release.

An update will allow users to see the must-see attractions at each park. This includes attractions, campgrounds, visitor centers and trailheads. Travelers can also leave reviews for these attractions.

Another update will show an entire route from start to finish on Google Maps. Information on the difficulty and length of the course will also be displayed.

The third update aims to help people get to national park attractions with more precise directions.

Later this month, you’ll see park entrances highlighted right on the map, and now when you request walking or biking directions for a particular trail, Maps will direct you directly to the trailhead, Curtes wrote.

The latest Maps update includes an offline map that users can download. There are over 400 National Park Service sites, and many are in remote areas where cell phone service is spotty. This update helps users still access that information with limited service.

These four updates are expected to be available for every US park in April as more people are flocking to national parks.

In 2022, visitors to the national park were up 5 percent from 2021, or 15 million people, McClatchy News previously reported.

Three parks in the United States had more than 10 million visits last year, according to the National Park Service.

Google will also be adding these features to parks around the world in the coming months.

Helena Wegner is a McClatchy National Live Reporter covering Washington state and the Western Region. She holds a BA in Journalism from Arizona State University’s Walter Cronkite School of Journalism and Mass Communication. It is based in Phoenix.

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