API Roadmap

Here you will find the projects that our team is evaluating and actively working on to improve developer resources and the NPS API. As with all software development, things change. We expect the roadmap will evolve as we get feedback and see what you build using this data.

This page includes:

In Progress

The following projects are in progress.
  • Events - Event data and display on NPS.gov are getting an overhaul. As part of that project, there will be changes to the event data that is available through the NPS API that may effect those using NPS event data. Those changes are unlikely to happen before the end of 2017. We will send messages to all registered API users with details in advance of any changes to the events resource.
  • Additional API Resources - New resources that will be added to the NPS API in the coming months include:
    • Activities & Topics - Every park selects the primary activities and topics associated with their park from a defined list. These lists are then used to power tools like the Find a Park Advanced Search, which allows visitors to filter for all parks related to a particular activity or topic on that list. Adding activities and topics to the Park resource in the NPS API will allow developers to do the same in their apps, maps, and websites.
    • Things to Do - Things to Do provide information on recommended activities related to a park or subject. Things to Do include information about an activity such as title, description, activity fee, reservations, pets, location, duration, season, and time of day. These will be added as a new resource type in the NPS API.
    • Trip Ideas - Trip Ideas are recommended collections of Things to Do that provide options that various user groups (e.g., visitors with only one day, visitor with three days, visitor with kids, etc.) may wish to consider in their trip planning. These will be added as a new resource type in the NPS API.
  • Transit Data - Several parks have transportation systems such as buses or ferries that run on a regular schedule. Parks with such systems that have their transportation schedules available as GTFS files will be able to upload them to this site. That GTFS data will NOT be available via the NPS API at this time. However, the files will be available as a resource that developers can download and use as part of their project via this website.
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Evaluation & Planning

The following projects are being evaluated and, if they are deemed worthy, will be planned for development.
  • Alert Refresh Rate - Separate out Alerts data from batch refresh to support more frequent updates (e.g., hourly instead of every two hours as for most other API data) of alert-related data.
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Questions

Have feedback about what you see here? Looking to share what you'd like to see us working on around our API platform? Contact us.

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Disclaimer

All information provided as part of the NPS API roadmap is provided for informational purposes only, is general in nature, and is not intended to and should not be relied upon or construed as a binding commitment. Please do not rely on this information in making decisions, as the development, release, and timing of any products, features, or functionality are subject to change.

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Last updated: September 7, 2017

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