mcp -nationalparks

This MCP server provides real-time access to the National Park Service (NPS) API, offering tools to search for parks, fetch park details, retrieve alerts, locate visitor centers, view campgrounds, and find upcoming events. The server exposes a set of functions you can call, including findParks, getParkDetails, getAlerts, getVisitorCenters, getCampgrounds, and getEvents. Each tool accepts parameters like parkCode, stateCode, limit, start, dateStart/dateEnd, and query terms to filter results. To use it, point your client (for example, Claude Desktop or another MCP consumer) at the nationalparks MCP server and supply the appropriate inputs; the server will return structured park information, alerts, and related data. Ensure you supply your NPS API key via the NPS_API_KEY environment variable so the server can authenticate with NPS.

Prerequisites:

• Node.js (LTS version) and npm/yarn installed on your system
• Internet access to fetch the MCP server package

Install and run:

1. Install the MCP server package using npx (no local installation required): npx -y mcp-server-nationalparks // This will start the National Parks MCP server and expose its endpoints according to MCP conventions

2. Configure environment (optional but recommended):

   • Create a secure environment variable for your NPS API key
   • Set NPS_API_KEY to your National Park Service API key Example (Linux/macOS): export NPS_API_KEY=YOUR_NPS_API_KEY

3. If you need to integrate with Claude Desktop or other clients, provide the MCP configuration (see mcp_config in this document) and ensure the client can reach the running server.

Notes:

• If you are using a dockerized or packaged deployment, adjust commands to your environment accordingly.
• The package name used by the MCP server in this readme is mcp-server-nationalparks; if your environment requires a different launcher, adapt the command to your setup.

Tips and common considerations:

• Ensure your NPS_API_KEY is kept secure and not committed to version control.
• The server expects standard MCP inputs; use the documented fields like parkCode, stateCode, limit, start, dateStart/dateEnd, and q to filter results.
• If you encounter rate limiting from the NPS API, consider implementing client-side caching or increasing the limit parameter within allowed bounds.
• Verify network access from the host running the MCP server to the NPS API endpoint.
• For Claude Desktop integration, ensure the env var NPS_API_KEY is provided in the configuration, so requests to NPS are authenticated.
• If you need to run multiple servers or environments, clone the configuration per environment and adjust the NPS API key and network settings accordingly.