NY State Parks Explorer

NYS Office of Information Technology Services

About this app

From the oceanfront shores of Long Island to the mighty Niagara Falls, more than 250 parks, historic sites, trails, golf courses, boat launches, and campgrounds are just a few taps away. With the New York State Parks Explorer App, you can plan getaways, explore favorite regions and discover new adventures and cultural gems with easy access to enhanced trail mapping, must-sees, things to know before you go, apparel and merchandise, and regularly updated information including special events and alerts. Discover your next adventure, download the NY State Explorer app today.

Key highlights and recent enhancements include:
• Users can discover new must-see locations with rotating curated content, and will enjoy quick access to park information, including directions, hours, fees and rates, trail maps, and helpful know-before-you-go details;
• Empire Pass holders have the option to digitally add their pass to the wallet within the NYS Explorer app.
• Expansion of the search function so that visitors can search for parks and historic sites from multiple regions at a time.
• Link directly to online camping reservations to book a stay, and
• The option to favorite select properties to receive important updates and real-time alerts.
Interactive map elements now provide visitors:
• Easier wayfinding: When the user's mobile device's location services are turned "on", visitors can easily follow along with where they are on the map;
• The ability to zoom in on and around each map to learn more about the facility;
• Information about trails, park features, and amenities by simply tapping on a trail or icon;
• Trail segment distance; and
• The ability to change base layers in live maps from satellite view, simple street view, or topography.

Ratings and reviews

what a terribly designed and laid out app. if you know where you want to go and you want to scroll through every Park in the entire app, I suppose you could find it, but if you're looking for places to go, there's no way to logically search for anything. it's just a giant advertisement with no sensible navigation path. whoever says this is a great app is obviously a planted review

Great app! Clear & cohesive. Easy to follow. Main screen has things broken down by categories including things like favorites staff picks, lighthouses. hidden gems. golf, military heritage etc. The search tool is very effective in further drilling down various locations & places you may want to visit. One super helpful item is it tells you how far away is each of these destinations are from your current point. Once you click on a location, you can get info such as hours, fees & contact info.

DO NOT DEPEND ON THIS APP to save your empire pass for you! It will remove the pass at random. When you drive who knows how many miles out to the state park to enjoy an afternoon, some booth attendant will inform you that even if you have your pass number, and an email confirmation of the valid $80 pass renewal, that it's not enough to get into to the public park that you've already prepaid to be able to enter. Don't get turned away at the gate, do not use this app.

What’s new

Fix bug for refetching all events when the app is updated
Added new Version Check capability
Added the ability to select closed portions of parks and view closure information