Here’s the scenario: The family wants to go camping. You put off making
reservations for weeks. You need to find that weekend getaway fast, and
the family wants bike trails, too, or there will be a family rebellion.
We understand that pressure, and have worked to solve that problem. California State Parks
has introduced a mobile application, a system created for the
last-minute camper or recreation seeker that is designed to run on a
broad spectrum of mobile devices and smart phones.
For the last-minute camper, the mobile app for
State Parks will display the availability of campsites from 48 hours to 2
weeks out. For the last-minute recreation seeker, it provides
additional information on activities like biking, hiking, tours, fishing
and more for all state parks. It helps visitors locate a park, make
reservations, find bike trails or beach wheelchairs from the palm of
their hand. In addition, visitors can check out seasonal parks, provide
input to the park system on Facebook and learn about new stuff coming via Twitter.
“We want to give our visitors a user-friendly mobile connection to
their State Parks. People lead busy lives and don’t have time to plan
ahead; this lets them be spontaneous,” said Ruth Coleman, director of
California State Parks.
Ok, let’s check it out. Just grab that mobile device or smart phone and go to http://m.parks.ca.gov.
Pick a topic, like “Find a State Park,” then decide how you want to
search – by region, activity, facility or county. Start punching those
buttons and within a couple of clicks, you have a listing of all the
parks in that part of the state.
If you’re looking for a campsite, click on “Find Reservation Availability.” This feature will lead you to the ReserveAmerica site and you can view places and maps to see campsites available.
If you are looking for activities in parks, click on “Parks by
Activity” and you will be provided with a listing of 20 categories of
recreational options. This feature is designed for those who may already
be out and about and are looking for a place and an activity that turns
the rest of the day or weekend into a fun time.
The State Parks application was developed in connection with the
Office of the State Chief Information Officer and is part of the newly
designed CA.gov portal. The State Parks Mobile App is found within the
newly designed Web portal, CA.gov, launched earlier this month. It is
part of the Golden Gateway awareness campaign and blog site, dedicated
to highlighting new features on California’s web portal, Ca.gov, with
enhanced search capabilities to make services and information from many
state government agencies easier than ever for the public to find.
From California State Parks
