LETCHWORTH: Letchworth State Park in New York State, known as “The Grand Canyon of the East” has been named the top State Park in America for 2020.
HomeToGo, the world’s largest vacation rental search engine, has researched America’s Best State Parks for the outdoor enthusiasts dreaming of a secluded getaway this summer. This index explores the nation’s best parks with the least crowds and most accommodations nearby.
To rank the parks featured in this index, four scores were used: a Solitude Score — Annual park visitors / size of the park; a Wildlife Score — Observed biodiversity of plants and animals; an Activities Score — Types of activities permitted; and an Accommodation Score — Number of vacation rentals nearby.
Letchworth came out in first place, with scores of 9.76 in Solitude, 6.33 in Activities, 10.0 for Wildlife and 9.6 for Accommodations. The park’s total score is a 35.69, more than two points greater than Palo Duro Canyon State Park in Texas, which finished in second place with a total score of 33.48.
Bear Mountain State Park, also in New York State, came in ninth out of the top 20 parks listed, with scores of 8.21 in Solitude; 7.0 in Activities, 8.45 in Wildlife and 8.18 in Accommodations, leading to a 31.84 total score. No other NY or Pennsylvania state parks made the top 20.
“As parks begin to welcome back visitors, we’re seeing a lot more travelers looking to book private overnight accommodations nearby. We hope everyone has a chance to find a little more space this summer and spend some time outdoors, safely and responsibly” said HomeToGo Spokesperson, Mike Pearce. “Making this guide left us feeling fired-up for some outdoor adventure and we’re delighted to show that there are always more local destinations to explore!”
State Park reports provided the data for annual visitors, size, activities, facilities. Crowdsourced species identification data was used for wildlife scoring. HomeToGo used its own metasearch data to determine the number of accommodations within a 30-mile radius of each park.
For the complete breakdown of this year’s ranking, please visit:
https://www.hometogo.com/united-states/state-parks/#best-parks-2020.
