Hacking National Parks

Have you ever wanted to go to a national park, but you were overwhelmed by the excess of information out on the internet? Ever wish for something more concise, just a simple list of things to do in national parks near you? Here at Hacking National Parks, we understand your struggle so we developed a website that removes the fluff from what you really want to know.

What it does

This website simply takes the input of a state of your choice and generates a list of all the national parks within your selected state. And that's not all, each national park contains its own set of information, such as activities, directions, weather, and even a link to their respective website for more information. You can also search for specific activities at a park!

How we built it

Using React, we designed and built two web pages: the home page and the results page. Using a text field, we made a simple search bar that accepts input from the user on the home page. We feed that input into the National Park Services API and then display a list of parks it generates within the results web page. Finally, we deployed the application to Firebase.

Challenges we ran into

Since we are relatively new at developing websites and working on the front-end, one of the main challenges that we faced was actually learning the React platform in conjunction with the National Park Service API to get our website functioning.

Accomplishments that we're proud of

We are proud of the fact that we were able to get a fully functioning website as beginners while working under time constraints.

What we learned

Thanks to this project, we have a better grasp on using the React platform, invaluable experience in designing a website, and how to collaborate on a single project with a group of people with varying skill sets.

What's next for Hacking National Parks

In the future, we plan to implement a smoother UI with more utilities and features so it allows the user to better understand and prepare for each national park. These features include related news, local events, amenities, and even an interactive detailed map containing camping grounds, view locations, visitor centers, etc.