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Interactive World National Parks Map
Explore 13,260 national parks and protected areas across 154 countries on one interactive map. Search for a specific park, filter by country or rating, and click any marker to view scores, photos, and a full visitor guide. Every park links to its own page with detailed ratings, wiki content, and community reviews.
How to Use This Map
Each marker represents a single park plotted at its recorded coordinates. Markers are color-coded by overall rating across seven tiers: dark green (80 to 100, Exceptional), green (70 to 79, Excellent), light green (60 to 69, Great), yellow-green (50 to 59, Good), gold (40 to 49, Average), orange (30 to 39, Below Average), and red (0 to 29, Poor). Grey markers indicate parks that have not yet been rated.
When parks are close together, they group into numbered clusters. Zoom in or click a cluster to expand it into individual markers. Use the control bar to filter by country, park classification, or minimum rating. Try filtering to a single country to plan a trip, or set the minimum rating to 80 to find only top-rated destinations.
Parks by the Numbers
International Parks tracks 13,260 protected areas across 154 countries, making it one of the largest national park databases available online. Of those, 11,672 have been scored across 10 categories. The United States has the most parks in the database with 3,825, followed by Canada (1,677), Australia (811), and Japan (394). Browse the full ratings leaderboard to see the highest-scoring parks worldwide, or use the explore page for advanced search and filtering across the complete database.
Frequently Asked Questions
How many national parks are there in the world?
The exact total depends on how each country defines and classifies protected areas. The IUCN recognizes thousands of Category II national parks, but the number grows significantly when including nature reserves, wildlife sanctuaries, marine parks, and state or provincial parks. International Parks currently tracks 13,260 government-managed protected areas across 154 countries, covering all major classification types.
What is the oldest national park in the world?
Yellowstone in the United States, established in 1872, is widely recognized as the world's first national park. Royal National Park in Australia followed in 1879, and Banff in Canada was established in 1885. All three are on this map with full profiles, ratings, and visitor guides.
How are parks rated on this map?
Each park is scored across 10 categories (beauty, wildlife, uniqueness, geology, plant life, tranquility, intensity, accessibility, safety, and heritage) on a 0 to 100 scale. The overall rating is the average of all 10 scores. Ratings come from AI analysis and visitor reviews submitted on International Parks. View the full breakdown on any park's detail page.
What is the difference between a national park and a nature reserve?
National parks are typically large areas managed for both conservation and public recreation, while nature reserves prioritize habitat protection and may restrict visitor access. This map includes both types, along with wildlife sanctuaries, marine parks, state parks, and other classifications. Use the classification filter in the control bar to view only one type at a time.
Which parks have the highest ratings?
The top-rated parks are ranked on the ratings leaderboard by overall score. On this map, look for dark green markers (scored 80 to 100) to find the highest-rated parks in any region. You can also set a minimum rating in the control bar to show only parks above a chosen threshold.
Visited a park on this map? Write a review to help other travelers, or explore the full database to discover your next destination.