Why PARKS is the Only National Parks Board Game That Actually Matters Right Now

You’re standing at the edge of the Grand Canyon. The sun is dipping low, hitting those orange ridges just right, and for a second, the world feels massive and quiet. Now, try to put that feeling into a cardboard box. It sounds impossible, honestly. Most tabletop adaptations of the great outdoors feel like a dry geography lesson or a math homework assignment dressed up in green paint. But then there’s PARKS, the national parks board game that somehow captured the actual soul of the trail.

I’ve played a lot of "nature" games. Some are clunky. Some are just plain boring. PARKS, designed by Henry Audubon and published by Keymaster Games, hit the scene in 2019 and basically reset the bar for what a licensed or themed production should look like. It isn’t just a game about moving pieces from point A to point B. It’s a love letter to the US National Park Service, utilizing the breathtaking artwork from the Fifty-Nine Parks Print Series. If you’ve ever seen those iconic, screen-printed posters, you know the vibe. It’s nostalgic, vibrant, and surprisingly deep.

The Strategy Behind the Scenery

Most people look at the box and assume it’s a "gateway game"—something simple for families who aren't into heavy strategy. They aren't wrong, but they aren't totally right either.

The core loop is simple: you control two hikers. You’re walking a trail. Each space on that trail gives you resources like sunlight, water, mountains, or forests. You use those resources to "visit" a park card. Simple, right? Except the trail changes every season. The weather adds extra resources to random spots. And because you can't occupy the same space as another hiker unless you use your campfire (which only relights once someone reaches the end of the trail), the game turns into a polite but stressful game of "please don't take my mountain."

It's about the gear, too.

You aren't just walking. You’re buying gear. Canteens let you turn water into other resources. Gear cards might make it cheaper to visit parks in the desert or give you extra points for taking photos. Oh, the photos. There’s a physical wooden camera token. If you have it, taking pictures is cheaper. It’s a small detail, but it’s those tiny mechanical flourishes that make the national parks board game experience feel like an actual trip. You have to decide: do I rush to the end of the trail to get the best park card, or do I linger at the watering hole to fill my canteens for the long haul?

Why the Art Choice Changed Everything

Let’s be real. Without the Fifty-Nine Parks Print Series, this game might have just been another "fine" hobbyist title. By partnering with real artists, Keymaster Games tapped into a specific kind of Americana. Each card feels like a window. When you pull the Yosemite card, or the Acadia card, you aren't just looking at stats. You’re looking at a specific artistic interpretation of a place people have visceral, emotional connections to.

It’s tactile. The resource tokens aren't just colored cubes. The "wildlife" tokens are little wooden shapes of bears, deer, and wolves. The "mountains" are actually shaped like mountains. In a world where everything is becoming digital, having a heavy, high-quality box full of things that feel good to hold matters. It’s a sensory experience. It mimics the tactility of being outdoors—the weight of a pack, the smoothness of a river stone.

Comparing the Contenders: PARKS vs. Trekking the National Parks

If you search for a national parks board game, you’re going to run into another big name: Trekking the National Parks. People ask me all the time which one is better. Honestly? They serve different masters.

Trekking is more of a traditional "map" game. You’re moving across a map of the United States, collecting cards, and racing to claim locations. It feels a bit more like Ticket to Ride. It’s great for teaching geography. It’s very "educational" in its DNA.

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PARKS, on the other hand, is a worker-placement game. It’s more intimate. You aren't looking at a map of the whole country; you’re looking at the trail right in front of your boots. If you want a competitive race across the US, go with Trekking. If you want a moody, beautiful, slightly more complex strategy game that feels like a sunset hike, PARKS is the clear winner.

Then there’s National Parks Get Wild, which is a fast-paced dice game. It’s fun for kids, sure, but it lacks the "weight" that hobbyist gamers usually crave. It’s a sprint, while PARKS is a steady, rhythmic march.

The "Nightfall" and "Wildlife" Expansions: Are They Necessary?

A lot of games get expansions that just "add more stuff" without adding more value. Nightfall changed the game by introducing camping. It gave players more to do with their hikers and introduced the remaining parks that weren't in the original base game (like the newer New River Gorge). It also tweaked the "Year" cards—the secret objectives—which were honestly a bit weak in the original version.

Wildlife, the second major expansion, leaned into the animal aspect. It added a big wandering bison and more ways to interact with the board. If you’re just starting out, you don't need these. The base game is a complete meal. But if you find yourself playing it every weekend, Nightfall is the one I’d grab first. It fixes the minor balance issues and makes the strategy feel a lot more robust without making it "heavy."

Misconceptions About "The Trail"

One thing people get wrong? They think they can win by just collecting the biggest parks.

Actually, the "small" parks are often the secret to victory. If you spend the whole game hoarding mountains to get that 7-point Glacier National Park card, your opponent might visit three 3-point parks in the same amount of time. They’ll also take more photos. They’ll use their canteens more efficiently. In this national parks board game, momentum is everything. If you stall out on the trail, you lose the ability to react to what other players are doing.

Also, don't sleep on the "Water" resource. In the summer season, water is everywhere. In the fall, it dries up. Beginners often forget to check the weather forecast for the next round, and suddenly they’re stuck in the desert with no way to fill their canteens. It’s a brutal lesson in planning.

How to Make Your Next Game Night Actually Work

If you’re going to bring this to the table, there are a few things you should know. It plays 1 to 5 players. The solo mode is actually decent—it uses a "dummy" hiker to block spaces, mimicking the feel of a crowded trail. But the sweet spot is 3 players. At 3, the trail is crowded enough that you have to make tough choices, but it doesn't grind to a halt like it sometimes can with a full 5-player group.

Setup time is also a factor. The game comes with these amazing plastic trays (made by GameTrayz) that look like log cabins. They keep everything organized. You can literally take the lid off and start playing in five minutes. For a game with this many tiny wooden pieces, that’s a miracle.

Quick tips for your first trek:

• Focus on Canteens early. Getting a canteen on the first turn means every "Water" action you take for the rest of the game is twice as valuable.
• Don't hold onto your campfire. Use it to jump over someone and grab a resource you need. You'll get it back anyway once you reach the end.
• Watch the seasons. Each season has a special rule. If the season makes "Sun" resources cheaper, pivot your strategy to grab parks that require sunlight.

The Environmental Impact of Gaming

It’s worth noting that Keymaster Games and the artists involved actually give back. A portion of the proceeds from the Fifty-Nine Parks series goes to the National Park Service. It’s rare to find a hobby product that feels this ethically aligned with its subject matter. When you buy this national parks board game, you aren't just buying plastic and cardboard; you’re supporting the actual land that inspired the art.

There’s a certain irony in sitting indoors to play a game about being outdoors, but in the middle of winter, or on a rainy Tuesday, it’s the best substitute there is. It reminds you why these places matter. It makes you want to book a trip to Zion or the Everglades.

Actionable Steps for New Hikers

If you’re ready to dive in, don't just buy the first box you see on a shelf.

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1. Check the version. Make sure you’re getting the Keymaster Games version of PARKS. There are some older, different games with similar names that aren't nearly as good.
2. Sleeves are your friend. The park cards are oversized and gorgeous. If you’re the type of person who eats chips while playing, buy some 70x120mm sleeves to protect that art.
3. Download the soundtrack. There are several "National Park" ambient playlists on Spotify. Put one on. It sounds cheesy, but it genuinely elevates the experience of the game.
4. Plan a "Theme Night." Match your snacks to the parks you're visiting. Trail mix is the obvious choice, but maybe some huckleberry jam if you're hitting the Pacific Northwest parks.
5. Look into the "PARKS Memories" series. If you have younger kids who find the main game too complex, there are three standalone "Memories" games (Plains, Coast, Mountains) that are essentially high-level matching games using the same art style.

The beauty of the national parks board game genre is that it’s growing. We’re seeing more designers realize that players want "cozy" games—games that offer a challenge without being aggressive or mean-spirited. PARKS is the gold standard for that. It’s competitive, sure, but at the end of the day, you’ve spent an hour looking at beautiful trees and tiny wooden birds. It’s hard to stay mad at someone for taking your spot on the trail when the board looks that good.

Go grab a copy, light a candle that smells like pine needles, and start hiking. You don't even need to break in your boots.