Questions, answered

An illustrated archive of all 63 U.S. national parks. Each park has its own painting, badge, and chapter covering the landscape, wildlife, geology, seasons, photography, and how to visit responsibly.

No. TrailMark is an independent project and isn’t affiliated with or endorsed by the NPS. Park facts come from NPS sources, and for anything official (permits, closures, emergencies) the NPS is the authority.

It’s designed and built by Yegor Hambaryan, a web designer and developer in New York. (More on the About page.)

The park paintings and badges are illustrations created for TrailMark. Visitor photos (on the Photos page and park pages) are real photographs shared with permission and credited.

Each chapter is researched from National Park Service pages, and the sources are recorded for every park. Numbers that can’t be confirmed are left out.

Yes. No ads, no account.

Park chapters are revised when better information comes in. The Today page refreshes from official NPS data every day.

Use Parks in the menu to see all 63, then filter by region, state, or landscape, or search by name.

For each park: current NPS alerts and closures, today’s hours, visitor-center hours, and entrance-fee information, refreshed daily from NPS data, with an “as of” time. Conditions change quickly, so always confirm with NPS before you go. (See the Today page.)

Every park has its own circular mark. They’re part of the collection on the homepage and About page.

Yes. TrailMark is built mobile-first and loads light.

It aims for WCAG 2.2 AA: pages work from the keyboard, including the menu, the park filters, and the chapter links on a park page; text stays at a contrast of at least 4.5:1, including type over paintings; images carry alt text; and reduced motion turns off the crossfade, parallax, badge tilt, and scroll reveals while leaving the content visible. Report problems via Contact.

63 sites carry the “National Park” title. The National Park Service manages more than 400 sites in total, including monuments, historic sites, and seashores.

Some parks require timed-entry or vehicle reservations during busy seasons, and the rules change year to year. Check the park’s NPS page and Recreation.gov before you go.

Many parks charge an entrance fee and some are free. Annual passes like America the Beautiful cover entrance at all national parks. Fees change, so check nps.gov (the Today page shows the current fee NPS lists).

Yes, the NPS sets several fee-free days each year. Check the NPS fee-free days page for this year’s dates.

It depends on the park. Each chapter has a Seasons section describing what each part of the year is like there (for example, Yosemite’s seasons).

Rules vary by park. Pets are usually allowed in developed areas and on some trails, but not in most backcountry. Check the park’s pets page on NPS.

Launching or landing drones is prohibited in national parks without special authorization.

Keep your distance. NPS guidance commonly asks for at least 100 yards from bears and wolves and 25 yards from other large animals, and some parks set their own rules. Never feed wildlife.

Often not. Download maps and park info before you go, and tell someone your plans.

Call 911. For park-specific emergencies and rangers, use the contact information on the park’s NPS page.

Yes. Use the form on the Photos page. Every photo is reviewed, and the ones that fit are added to that park’s page with your name.

Yes. Sharing gives TrailMark permission to publish it with credit, and location data is removed before posting.

Yes, same form. Stories may be featured on the park’s page with your permission.

Thank you. Use the Contact page, choose “Correction”, and include the park and what’s wrong (and a source if you have one).

Not without permission. Ask via Contact.

The Contact page.