Oh, Ranger! ParkFinder™ App

NewCity and its subsidiary Nomad Mobile Guides worked collaboratively with American Park Network, adding key members to the team that created Oh,Ranger! ParkFinder™, a mobile app that allows users to find national parks and public lands all across America.  The app searches American Park Network's proprietary database to find nearby parks based on users' favorite activities, providing park overview information, directions, links to park maps, related website and tap-to-call phone numbers. Parks are tagged with major activity categories like Hiking, Fishing, History & Culture, Camping and many more.  It’s a whole new way to plan an outdoor adventure, whether it's a once-in-a-lifetime national park vacation or just to find a fun place for a weekend getaway!  

American Park Network has spent years developing a comprehensive database of every federal and state park in the country, and is continually adding new features and functionality to their app, which requires ongoing development to accommodate their ever-growing content.  Their management was particularly impressed with the work we had done for others in the outdoor/park realm—such as an app we developed for the Great Smoky Mountains Association—so they partnered with us to help with the user interface planning, design and implementation of Oh, Ranger! ParkFinder™.  The fact that we shared their passion for the outdoors was a big plus, as we were able to bring not only technical expertise to bear, but also a true appreciation for the value proposition of the platform.  

American Park Network has had great success with Oh, Ranger! ParkFinder™, which continues to be a core asset in their mission to connect people with parks and to enhance the park experience by providing valuable trip planning information.  The app has been featured repeatedly on the home page of Apple's App Store, as New & Noteworthy, What's Hot, Staff Favorite, Great Free Apps, Apps for the Great Outdoors and more.  The media has lauded the app, with the New York Times reporting that, "Even if it weren't free, Oh, Ranger! ParkFinder™ would be well worth downloading."  Gizmodo raved that, "It's awesome. You can't run out of things to do or places to go with this app.”  Wired Magazine featured Oh, Ranger! ParkFinder™ as a top lifestyle app of 2011, the only outdoor app selected for this honor.  The response of the user community has been great too, with Oh, Ranger! ParkFinder™ rising as high as the #3 most downloaded travel app (just behind Google Earth) and receiving consistently positive user ratings.  

We're excited to work closely with American Park Network to play a key role in the app's ongoing evolution.  We can't wait to see where the development path takes us together.