Mapping People, Parks, and Open Space

Who has access to the outdoors and who does not?

Across the United States, there are some 3.8 million square miles of public parks and open space. From vast national forests to neighborhood pocket parks, we have an incredible diversity of parks and open spaces. But these public amenities are not evenly distributed. People do not have equal access to the benefits that come from time spent outdoors. This research project maps where policies can be applied to improve equitable access to the outdoors.

This research project starts in six states: Arizona, California, Montana, New Mexico, Washington, and Georgia and will expand nationwide. The project—a collaboration between the Institute of the Environment and Sustainability at UCLA and GreenInfo Network, supported by The Wilderness Society and Resources Legacy Fund—provides a new way to look at access to the outdoors, using detailed data and analysis to show where three specific types of policy interventions can help make access to nature more equitable.

Build new neighborhood parks
Improve infrastructure and programming
Increase public transportation connectivity

This project sheds light on the public access objectives of 30x30 conservation goals nationwide. Habitat conservation is another crucial 30x30 goal. Our research does not currently incorporate those goals here, although future work could do so.

Download our findings report.

Whitewater stream through fern-covered gully

Two hikers walking through a forest of large trees

Biker and pedestrians on paved path through grassy park dotted with trees

Four adults dressed for hiking waiting on a train platform

Picnic table and winding paved path in a grassy park with small trees

Two women and a gray dog sitting on rocks overlooking a bay or lake

Two women hiking on a flat gravel path through a forest

Grassy city park dotted with large trees

Image credits: Mason Cummings

Pilot States

Arizona California Georgia Montana New Mexico Washington

Create a free account for access

This website provides free access to detailed web maps and statistics to anyone who signs up with their email. We will not use your email for any marketing purposes, though we may reach out to find out more about how useful you are finding the data and for what purposes. Before using this data, be sure to read our methods and definitions, which include some caveats about the data.

Check out our guide and tour for first time users

We’ve created a guide for first time users.

Learn more about how to use our visitorsheds

This project maps the “visitorshed” of regional parks, open spaces, and public lands. This is the catchment area that includes everyone within driving distance of each of these parks, open spaces, and public lands. We use the average distance that the National Household Travel Survey finds people will drive for a social or recreational trip to map the road network for each visitorshed. You can explore demographic data about residents in each visitorshed to see who could benefit most from improving equitable access in each regional park, open space, and other public lands. Read a definition of visitorsheds in the glossary or dive deeper by reading the methodology documentation on our About page.