ParkQwest is an independent publication hosted by QwestLyfe. Our purpose is to help people plan, track, and remember visits to America's National Park Service locations. These standards describe how we produce that content and what you can expect from it.
Who We Are
ParkQwest is published by QwestLyfe, a small independent team. Editorial decisions — what we cover, how we cover it, and what we correct — are made by our editors, not by advertisers or affiliate partners.
ParkQwest is not affiliated with, endorsed by, or operated by the National Park Service or the United States government.
Where Our Information Comes From
Our park content is grounded in official and verifiable sources, including:
- National Park Service (NPS) official APIs, alerts, news releases, and park pages
- NOAA and National Weather Service forecast and climate data
- Official park, state, and federal agency publications
- First-hand community contributions from ParkQwest members
- Reputable published references for history and natural context
Where an item originates with a government agency — an alert, closure, or news release — we link back to the official source so you can read it first-hand.
Types of Content We Publish
Park pages
Structured, continuously refreshed profiles for each park unit — address, contact details, hours, weather, trails, and points of interest. Facts here are sourced from official agency data and refreshed on a schedule.
News and notices
Alerts, closures, and news releases originating from the National Park Service. These are reproduced or summarised with a link back to the official source and are dated and archived as they age.
Editorials
Original ParkQwest articles — trip planning, itineraries, seasonal guides, and park explainers. These are drafted with AI assistance, grounded in the official data above, and reviewed by a human editor before publication.
Trail guides and points of interest
Route and destination write-ups built from official trail data plus community input, with ratings contributed by members.
Park of the Day
A daily featured park drawn from our park database, with an accompanying article generated from that park's verified data and reviewed before it goes out.
How We Use AI
ParkQwest uses AI tooling to help draft editorial articles, summarise official notices, and produce illustrative imagery. AI is a drafting aid, not a source of fact.
- Drafts are generated from structured data we have already gathered from official sources — not from open-ended prompting.
- A human editor reviews content before it is published, and can revise, hold, or discard any draft.
- Illustrative images are labelled as such where they are not photographs of the specific place being described.
- We do not publish AI-generated quotes, statistics, or attributions.
Accuracy and Freshness
Park conditions change constantly. Hours, fees, road and trail status, permits, and weather can all shift without notice. Articles and notices carry the date they were published or imported, and time-sensitive notices are archived automatically once they age out.
Always confirm hours, closures, fees, permits, and safety guidance with the official park before you travel.
Corrections
If we publish something inaccurate, we fix it. Send us the page and what is wrong and we will review it. Substantive corrections to an article are made in place, and the article records its updated date.
To report an error, use or email support@qwestlyfe.com.
Advertising, Affiliates, and Sponsorship
ParkQwest carries advertising and affiliate links, and may publish sponsored placements. Commercial relationships never determine editorial coverage or ranking, and sponsored placements are identified where they appear. Full details are in our Affiliate Disclosure.
Community Contributions
Members can contribute ratings, notes, photos, and trail feedback. Contributions are attributed to their author, are moderated, and can be removed if they are inaccurate, unsafe, or violate our terms. Community contributions are not editorial statements by ParkQwest.