Contribute your park knowledge to National Parks Traveler's Parkipedia.

One of the most intriguing, and exciting, new aspects of National Parks Traveler is the Parkipedia section open to all NPT members. What is Parkipedia? Let me explain.

Printed guidebooks, sadly, are dinosaurs of sorts in today's digital world. The time it takes to research, write, and print them almost makes them obsolete by the time they're published. There is some pertinent static information -- hiking trails rarely are rerouted, and the Old Faithful Inn will remain standing year-in, year-out, barring a cataclysmic fire -- but businesses that operate in or near the parks can go out of business, and rates for activities can change.

That's where Traveler's Parkipedia comes in. With a few clicks, its information can quickly be updated to reflect today's realities.

With your help, arguably the most comprehensive guides to the national parks can be created right here on the Traveler. While many park guides are researched and written by one or two people, Traveler's Parkipedia guides will be collaboratively written by the people who time and again visit their favorite parks and have amassed years of knowledge in the areas of hiking, wildlife, camping, lodging and more.

If Acadia is your favorite national park, we hope you'll share your insights about the park trails and the lodging available in Bar Harbor, Southwest Harbor and Northeast Harbor. If Shenandoah is your "home" park, please share your knowledge of when the wildflowers bloom and where the best flower patches can be found. If you work, or have worked, for the National Park Service, you're among the experts who we hope will contribute to Parkipedia.

Traveler's Parkipedia is one of the benefits you get by becoming a National Parks Traveler member. For details on the other benefits (such as discounts on lodging and trips), and to sign up, head over to this page.

And once you do sign up, we hope you'll dive into Parkipedia and help with its construction. 

This "category" page for Arches National Park shows which sections have already been created for the park. 

There are a few simple guidelines: Don't intentionally contribute misleading or erroneous information. In discussing lodging, come at it with a constructive point of view. Don't, of course, plagiarize or violate anyone's copyright. Traveler members who breach these simple rules will lose their access to these pages.

While we have started compiling information for some of the parks on the list, (and need to add many more units of the National Park System) there remain many gaps that we hope you'll help us overcome. Along the way, we will be looking for particularly dedicated park travelers to serve as content moderators for specific parks.

If, once you find your way to Parkipedia, you have any questions, there's a Parkipedia section in the forum to post your questions.