MCP Server Nationalparks

What the KyrieTangSheng/mcp-server-nationalparks MCP server does

The KyrieTangSheng/mcp-server-nationalparks MCP server exposes selected National Park Service API data through MCP tools. It focuses on information useful for researching and planning visits to U.S. national parks, including park descriptions, operating information, alerts, visitor facilities, campgrounds, and scheduled events.

The available operations are:

• findParks searches for parks using state codes, text, result limits, offsets, and activities.
• getParkDetails retrieves information for a specified park code, including descriptions, hours, fees, contacts, and activities.
• getAlerts returns current park alerts such as closures, hazards, and other important notices.
• getVisitorCenters finds visitor centers and provides their locations, hours, and contact details.
• getCampgrounds returns campground information, including amenities, fees, and reservation details.
• getEvents searches upcoming events and can filter them by park, text, and date range.

How it works

An MCP-compatible client calls one of the server's tools with structured parameters. The server uses the supplied filters to request matching information from the National Park Service API and returns the results to the client. Most list-oriented tools accept limit and start values for controlling result size and pagination; the documented maximum for limit is 50 and the default is 10.

Park filtering uses NPS park codes such as yose for Yosemite, grca for Grand Canyon, and zion for Zion. Several inputs accept comma-separated values, including multiple state codes or park codes. Event searches accept dateStart and dateEnd in YYYY-MM-DD format.

Setup and configuration

The KyrieTangSheng/mcp-server-nationalparks MCP server requires an API key from the National Park Service Developer Portal. Store the key in the NPS_API_KEY environment variable so the server can authenticate its API requests.

The README shows a Claude Desktop configuration that runs the package with npx:

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "nationalparks": {
      "command": "npx",
      "args": ["-y", "mcp-server-nationalparks"],
      "env": {
        "NPS_API_KEY": "YOUR_NPS_API_KEY"
      }
    }
  }
}

The documented setup also describes installation through Smithery for Claude Desktop. The API key is described as free, but a key is still required for requests.

Tools and capabilities

The KyrieTangSheng/mcp-server-nationalparks MCP server supports several common park-research workflows:

• Search for parks in one or more states.
• Filter parks by activities such as hiking or camping.
• Retrieve park fees, hours, contacts, and activities.
• Check current closures, hazards, and other alerts.
• Locate visitor centers and review their operating information.
• Compare campgrounds, amenities, fees, and reservation details.
• Find upcoming events within a specified date range.

These tools can support questions about destinations such as Yosemite, Grand Canyon, Yellowstone, Zion, Acadia, and other parks with known NPS codes.

Limitations and notes

The server is limited to data exposed by the National Park Service API and the six documented operations. It does not describe booking or reservation actions; campground results may include reservation details, but the provided material does not indicate that the server can make reservations.

Results depend on the NPS API and may change as park information, alerts, hours, events, and availability-related details are updated. Requests that need current conditions should use getAlerts or retrieve the relevant park and facility data at query time. The README documents Claude Desktop usage; it does not establish compatibility with other MCP clients.

The project is released under the MIT License.