This is an archived article that was published on sltrib.com in 2016, and information in the article may be outdated. It is provided only for personal research purposes and may not be reprinted.
The National Park Service website, http://www.nps.gov, has always been the best place to get information on the 410 units of the national park service.
It offers detailed information on what to see, reservations, history, hiking and camping at every national park, monument and historic area in the Service's inventory.
The agency recently redesigned the website, adding a new look and features designed to help visitors find information quickly.
According to the Park Service, the new design provides a greater set of trip-planing tools; improved content links; makes use of structured data, essential information about parks and NPS programs such as contact information, location, operating hours and seasons, and works well on all devices including phones, tablets and computers.
"The new design is the result of a multi-year effort to transform NPS.gov into a world class digital experience and communications tool," said National Park Service Director Jonathan Jarvis. "I think the best part of the redesign is that NPS.gov now works great on mobile devices like tablets and smartphones."
Teachers or parents can use a collection of popular lesson plans at the Teaching With Historic Places tab. Lesson plans can be used to teach history, social studies, geography and STEM subjects.
The NPS and Geocaching HQ also recently launched Find Your Park GeoTour. Geocaching or ParkCaching is an outdoor game using GPS-enabled devices. Twenty-eight parks have registered 62 traditional geocaches. The list will grow in 2016.