National Parks Service MCP server

The National Parks MCP Server provides real-time information about U.S. National Parks through the National Park Service (NPS) API. It allows you to access park details, alerts, visitor centers, campgrounds, and events, making it easier to plan your visits to national parks across the United States.

Installation

Installing via Smithery

You can automatically install the National Parks MCP Server for Claude Desktop using Smithery:

npx -y @smithery/cli install @KyrieTangSheng/mcp-server-nationalparks --client claude

Getting an NPS API Key

To use this server, you'll need a free API key from the National Park Service:

1. Visit the National Park Service Developer Portal
2. Follow the instructions to obtain your API key
3. Store this key securely as you'll need it for configuration

Configuration for Claude Desktop

To use the National Parks MCP Server with Claude Desktop, add the following to your claude_desktop_config.json file:

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

Be sure to replace YOUR_NPS_API_KEY with the actual API key you obtained from the NPS Developer Portal.

Available Tools

findParks

Search for national parks based on various criteria:

• Inputs:
  • stateCode (optional): Filter parks by state code (e.g., "CA" for California)
  • q (optional): Search term for filtering parks by name or description
  • limit (optional): Maximum number of parks to return (default: 10, max: 50)
  • start (optional): Start position for pagination
  • activities (optional): Filter by available activities (e.g., "hiking,camping")

getParkDetails

Get comprehensive information about a specific national park:

• Inputs:
  • parkCode (required): The park code (e.g., "yose" for Yosemite, "grca" for Grand Canyon)

getAlerts

Get current alerts for national parks:

• Inputs:
  • parkCode (optional): Filter alerts by park code
  • limit (optional): Maximum number of alerts (default: 10, max: 50)
  • start (optional): Start position for pagination
  • q (optional): Search term for filtering alerts

getVisitorCenters

Get information about visitor centers and their operating hours:

• Inputs:
  • parkCode (optional): Filter visitor centers by park code
  • limit (optional): Maximum number to return (default: 10, max: 50)
  • start (optional): Start position for pagination
  • q (optional): Search term for filtering visitor centers

getCampgrounds

Get information about available campgrounds and their amenities:

• Inputs:
  • parkCode (optional): Filter campgrounds by park code
  • limit (optional): Maximum number to return (default: 10, max: 50)
  • start (optional): Start position for pagination
  • q (optional): Search term for filtering campgrounds

getEvents

Find upcoming events at parks:

• Inputs:
  • parkCode (optional): Filter events by park code
  • limit (optional): Maximum number to return (default: 10, max: 50)
  • start (optional): Start position for pagination
  • dateStart (optional): Start date (format: YYYY-MM-DD)
  • dateEnd (optional): End date (format: YYYY-MM-DD)
  • q (optional): Search term for filtering events

Example Usage

You can interact with the National Parks MCP Server by asking Claude questions like:

Finding Parks in a State

Tell me about national parks in Colorado.

Getting Details About a Specific Park

What's the entrance fee for Yellowstone National Park?

Checking for Alerts or Closures

Are there any closures or alerts at Yosemite right now?

Finding Visitor Centers

What visitor centers are available at Grand Canyon National Park?

Looking for Campgrounds

Are there any campgrounds with electrical hookups in Zion National Park?

Finding Upcoming Events

What events are happening at Acadia National Park next weekend?

Planning a Trip Based on Activities

Which national parks in Utah have good hiking trails?

Common Park Codes

Here are some popular national parks and their codes:

• Yosemite: yose
• Grand Canyon: grca
• Yellowstone: yell
• Zion: zion
• Great Smoky Mountains: grsm
• Acadia: acad
• Olympic: olym
• Rocky Mountain: romo
• Joshua Tree: jotr
• Sequoia & Kings Canyon: seki

For a complete list of parks, visit the NPS website.

How to install this MCP server

For Claude Code

To add this MCP server to Claude Code, run this command in your terminal:

claude mcp add-json "nationalparks" '{"command":"npx","args":["-y","mcp-server-nationalparks"],"env":{"NPS_API_KEY":"YOUR_NPS_API_KEY"}}'

See the official Claude Code MCP documentation for more details.

For Cursor

There are two ways to add an MCP server to Cursor. The most common way is to add the server globally in the ~/.cursor/mcp.json file so that it is available in all of your projects.

If you only need the server in a single project, you can add it to the project instead by creating or adding it to the .cursor/mcp.json file.

Adding an MCP server to Cursor globally

To add a global MCP server go to Cursor Settings > Tools & Integrations and click "New MCP Server".

When you click that button the ~/.cursor/mcp.json file will be opened and you can add your server like this:

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

Adding an MCP server to a project

To add an MCP server to a project you can create a new .cursor/mcp.json file or add it to the existing one. This will look exactly the same as the global MCP server example above.

How to use the MCP server

Once the server is installed, you might need to head back to Settings > MCP and click the refresh button.

The Cursor agent will then be able to see the available tools the added MCP server has available and will call them when it needs to.

You can also explicitly ask the agent to use the tool by mentioning the tool name and describing what the function does.

For Claude Desktop

To add this MCP server to Claude Desktop:

1. Find your configuration file:

• macOS: ~/Library/Application Support/Claude/claude_desktop_config.json
• Windows: %APPDATA%\Claude\claude_desktop_config.json
• Linux: ~/.config/Claude/claude_desktop_config.json

2. Add this to your configuration file:

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

3. Restart Claude Desktop for the changes to take effect