1 Mapping National Park Service Lands
The United States has 63 national parks, which are congressionally designated protected areas operated by the National Park Service (NPS), an agency of the Department of the Interior. The NPS provides accurate and up-to-date geospatial data for my analysis of US national parks. In this section, I delve into national park visitation data to have an overview of my research subject.
1.1 Data Wrangling
After exploring the NPS datasets, I wrangled the boundaries, centroids, and recreation visitors of national parks.
Visitation by state and by park report documents the number of recreation visitors and visitor days for all NPS units that reported public use data in Calendar Year 2023 and displays the percent change from the previous year.
| State | Park | Recreation Visitors | Percent Change | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 0 | Alabama | Horseshoe Bend NMP | 72725 | 0.0731 |
| 1 | Alabama | Little River Canyon NPRES | 700638 | -0.0353 |
| 2 | Alabama | Natchez Trace PKWY | 474939 | 0.0369 |
| 3 | Alabama | Russell Cave NM | 8678 | -0.4892 |
| 4 | Alabama | Tuskegee Airmen NHS | 22082 | 0.3684 |
Annual park ranking report for recreation visits records the number of recreation visitors and the rankings of each national park in Calendar Year 2023 and provides the percentage of total of this year.
| Rank | Recreation Visits | % of Total | Park | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 0 | 1 | 16757635 | 0.051483 | Blue Ridge PKWY |
| 1 | 2 | 14953882 | 0.045941 | Golden Gate NRA |
| 2 | 3 | 13297647 | 0.040853 | Great Smoky Mountains NP |
| 3 | 4 | 8705329 | 0.026745 | Gateway NRA |
| 4 | 5 | 8277857 | 0.025431 | Gulf Islands NS |
Park centroids and boundaries depicts National Park Service tract and boundary data that was created by the Land Resources Division. The dataframe displays the types, regions, names, and states of the parks.
| OBJECTID | CreationDate | Creator | EditDate | Editor | GlobalID | AreaID | UNIT_CODE | UNIT_NAME | DATE_EDIT | STATE | REGION | GNIS_ID | UNIT_TYPE | CREATED_BY | PARKNAME | geometry | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 0 | 1 | Wed, 02 Oct 2024 09:10:01 GMT | NPS_WASO_LANDS | Wed, 02 Oct 2024 09:10:01 GMT | NPS_WASO_LANDS | 7085a596-1e1a-49c6-8469-d52591de216b | 50 | BICA | Bighorn Canyon National Recreation Area | Fri, 06 Sep 2024 00:00:00 GMT | MT | IM | 767934 | National Recreation Area | Lands | Bighorn Canyon | POINT (-108.23474 45.10364) |
| 1 | 2 | Wed, 02 Oct 2024 09:10:01 GMT | NPS_WASO_LANDS | Wed, 02 Oct 2024 09:10:01 GMT | NPS_WASO_LANDS | 55aee914-d70a-4850-82db-b16f77a1cd7b | 338 | HALE | Haleakala National Park | Wed, 18 Sep 2024 00:00:00 GMT | HI | PW | 358382 | National Park | Lands | Haleakala | POINT (-156.13255 20.69943) |
| 2 | 3 | Wed, 02 Oct 2024 09:10:01 GMT | NPS_WASO_LANDS | Wed, 02 Oct 2024 09:10:01 GMT | NPS_WASO_LANDS | 0eebbcef-d2db-40fa-be02-39ce8f051b09 | 272 | HOCU | Hopewell Culture National Historical Park | Wed, 18 Sep 2024 00:00:00 GMT | OH | MW | 1888931 | National Historical Park | Lands | Hopewell Culture | POINT (-83.13505 39.27882) |
| 3 | 4 | Wed, 02 Oct 2024 09:10:01 GMT | NPS_WASO_LANDS | Wed, 02 Oct 2024 09:10:01 GMT | NPS_WASO_LANDS | 1b3159fe-ca37-46fe-a52c-fbb01c387643 | 258 | INDU | Indiana Dunes National Park | Thu, 12 Sep 2024 00:00:00 GMT | IN | MW | 446903 | National Park | Lands | Indiana Dunes | POINT (-87.03288 41.65959) |
| 4 | 5 | Wed, 02 Oct 2024 09:10:01 GMT | NPS_WASO_LANDS | Wed, 02 Oct 2024 09:10:01 GMT | NPS_WASO_LANDS | 88ec79de-8983-4657-a58a-1d1b867ed88a | 266 | JEFF | Gateway Arch National Park | Wed, 18 Sep 2024 00:00:00 GMT | IL | MW | 765817 | National Park | Lands | Gateway Arch | POINT (-90.17541 38.62346) |
The boundary of U.S states is also acquired from the Cartographic Boundary Files of United States Census Bureau.
| STATEFP | STATENS | GEOIDFQ | GEOID | STUSPS | NAME | LSAD | ALAND | AWATER | geometry | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 0 | 35 | 00897535 | 0400000US35 | 35 | NM | New Mexico | 00 | 314198587197 | 726463919 | POLYGON ((-862284.832 -1454476.300, -862055.89... |
| 1 | 72 | 01779808 | 0400000US72 | 72 | PR | Puerto Rico | 00 | 8869031577 | 4922247037 | MULTIPOLYGON (((3650564.378 -2228256.031, 3651... |
| 2 | 48 | 01779801 | 0400000US48 | 48 | TX | Texas | 00 | 676686238592 | 18982083586 | POLYGON ((-630703.394 -1429224.113, -630219.81... |
| 3 | 21 | 01779786 | 0400000US21 | 21 | KY | Kentucky | 00 | 102266598312 | 2384223544 | MULTIPOLYGON (((946128.073 -881437.420, 946563... |
| 4 | 39 | 01085497 | 0400000US39 | 39 | OH | Ohio | 00 | 105823831336 | 10274524796 | MULTIPOLYGON (((1423192.458 -226998.937, 14238... |
1.2 Data Pre-processing
Visitation data and centroids of the national parks are merged for further geospatial analysis.
| Rank | Recreation Visits | % of Total | Park | PARKNAME | UNIT_CODE | UNIT_TYPE | geometry | STATE | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 0 | 2 | 14953882 | 0.045941 | Golden Gate NRA | Golden Gate | NRA | National Recreation Area | POINT (-122.68760 37.94684) | CA |
| 1 | 3 | 13297647 | 0.040853 | Great Smoky Mountains NP | Great Smoky Mountains | NP | National Park | POINT (-83.49810 35.62216) | NC |
| 2 | 4 | 8705329 | 0.026745 | Gateway NRA | Gateway | NRA | National Recreation Area | POINT (-73.85713 40.59855) | NJ |
| 3 | 5 | 8277857 | 0.025431 | Gulf Islands NS | Gulf Islands | NS | National Seashore | POINT (-87.01818 30.35539) | FL |
| 4 | 6 | 8099148 | 0.024882 | Lincoln Memorial | Lincoln | Memorial | National Memorial | POINT (-77.05021 38.88928) | DC |
1.3 Distribution of National Park Service Lands
The national park service lands includes national parks, monuments, historic sites, recreation areas, seashores, and other federally designated areas. NPS lands are distributed across all 50 states, the District of Columbia, and U.S. territories such as Puerto Rico, Guam, and the Virgin Islands. Western states, like California, Alaska, and Utah, often host the largest expanses of NPS land due to their size and natural diversity. Eastern states tend to feature smaller, historically focused NPS sites. States with vast wilderness areas, such as Alaska, have a significant share of NPS lands. Smaller or more urbanized states often have fewer or smaller NPS sites but may house historically critical or highly visited landmarks.
1.4 Most Visited National Park Service Lands
The image features two side-by-side bar charts illustrating recreation visits to national parks. The left chart presents a state-level summary, highlighting California as the leader with 36.16 million visitors, followed by the District of Columbia and Arizona. Other notable states include North Carolina, Florida, and New Jersey. The right chart focuses on individual national parks, with Golden Gate National Park topping the list at 14.95 million visitors, followed by Great Smoky Mountains and Gateway National Park. Parks such as the Grand Canyon and Vietnam Veterans Memorial also rank among the top 10.
The top 10 national parks by recreation visits highlight some of the most popular destinations across the United States. California (CA) leads with 36.16 million visitors, which is also home to Golden Gate National Recreation Area. District of Columbia (DC) hosts two highly visited landmarks, which are the Lincoln Memorial and Vietnam Veterans Memorial. Arizona (AZ) contributes significantly with parks like the Grand Canyon, Lake Mead, and Glen Canyon. North Carolina (NC) and New Jersey (NJ) add diversity with parks such as Great Smoky Mountains and Gateway. Florida (FL) and Alabama (AL) feature prominently due to Gulf Islands and Natchez Trace.
| PARKNAME | Recreation Visits | geometry | STATE | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 0 | Golden Gate | 14953882 | POINT (-1962854.536 -513963.852) | CA |
| 1 | Great Smoky Mountains | 13297647 | POINT (1484845.295 -895614.898) | NC |
| 2 | Gateway | 8705329 | POINT (2162945.286 -141062.262) | NJ |
| 3 | Gulf Islands | 8277857 | POINT (1250105.164 -1529879.132) | FL |
| 4 | Lincoln | 8099148 | POINT (1957863.380 -405668.953) | DC |
| 5 | Natchez Trace | 6784853 | POINT (968704.634 -1287486.964) | AL |
| 6 | Lake Mead | 5798541 | POINT (-1285654.803 -862324.981) | AZ |
| 7 | Glen Canyon | 5206934 | POINT (-953063.678 -783083.162) | AZ |
| 8 | Vietnam Veterans | 5039454 | POINT (1958024.802 -405430.786) | DC |
| 9 | Grand Canyon | 4733705 | POINT (-1100430.919 -884718.804) | AZ |
Note: For better visualization, Alaska and Hawaii are placed at the bottom of the United States.