National Parks Traveler’s Parkipedia an Innovative Approach to Park Guidebooks

One of the most intriguing, exciting and innovative approaches to national park guidebooks has been launched by National Park Traveler, the top-ranked website dedicated to daily editorial coverage of the national parks. National Parks Traveler’s Parkipedia, modeled after the ubiquitous Wikipedia online encyclopedia, takes a crowd-sourcing approach to guidebook creation.

Parkipedia recently arrived with the redesign of the eight-year-old Traveler’s website. Central to that redesign was creation of a “members area” for readers who, for $9.95 a year, become Traveler members. Members benefit from not just Parkipedia, but also from discounts on trips, lodging and book titles as well as forums for discussing all aspects of national park visits.

As with Wikipedia, entries to Parkipedia can be contributed and edited by all Traveler members. Details on hiking, lodging, dining, activities and supporting photographs on all aspects of national park visits can be contributed by Traveler members.

“Printed guidebooks, sadly, are dinosaurs of sorts in today's digital world,” said Kurt Repanshek, Traveler founder and editor-in-chief who has himself authored multiple guidebooks. “The time it takes to research, write, and print them almost makes them obsolete by the time they're published There is some pertinent information that stands the test of time in printed form — hiking trails rarely are rerouted, and the Old Faithful Inn will remain standing year-in, year-out, barring a cataclysmic fire — but businesses that operate in or near the parks can go out of business, and rates for activities can change.

“That’s where Traveler’s Parkipedia comes in. With a few clicks, its information can quickly be updated to reflect today’s realities,” he said.

While many printed park guides are researched and written by one or two people, Traveler’s Parkipedia guides are collaboratively written by the people who time and again visit their favorite parks and have amassed years of knowledge in the areas of hiking, wildlife, camping, lodging and more.

“If Acadia is your favorite national park, we hope you’ll share your insights about the park trails and the lodging available in Bar Harbor, Southwest Harbor and Northeast Harbor,” said Repanshek. “If Shenandoah is your ‘home’ park, we’d like you to share your knowledge of when the wildflowers bloom and where the best flower patches can be found. If you work, or have worked, for the National Park Service, you’re among the experts who we hope will contribute to Parkipedia.”

National Parks Traveler is published by National Park Advocates, LLC, and offers daily news, commentary, features and analysis on the national parks, the National Park Service and how Congress oversees the NPS.

More than 1.5 million people from nearly 200 countries visit National Parks Traveler each year.

More information about National Parks Traveler is available at www.nationalparkstraveler.com, on Facebook at www.facebook.com/NationalParksTraveler, on Linked In at www.linkedin.com/company/3335021?goback=%2Enpv_22181691,  on Flickr at www.flickr.com/groups/nationalparkstraveler/ on Google+ at \

https://plus.google.com/b/104306519305419282007/104306519305419282007/posts or on Twitter at @parkstraveler.