Welcome to the Washington Healthy Parks Explorer

Where are parks needed most? The Healthy Parks Explorer lets you answer this question by using data on health, community, and the natural and built environment to map and visualize parks and areas of park need across Washington state. A growing body of academic research proves that better access to high-quality parks, in conjunction with improved access to clean air and water, living wage employment, stable housing, healthy food, and education can support healthier citizens. Parks and open spaces provide multiple benefits and can be an important tool to address public health needs that exist in our communities.

Statement of Land Acknowledgement

Trust for Public Land acknowledges that the lands that we work to preserve and protect were stolen from Indigenous peoples from across what is now Washington state. This statement is an acknowledgment that land has meaning, and that we create our identities in places that was once home to the tribes.  The lands depicted through this map were stolen from Indigenous peoples who have continuously stewarded the land and continue to do so in the present day.

We also acknowledge the Indian communities throughout Washington are made-up of tribal diversity that originates from here and from around the country. These individuals and communities have a vivid history, made up of people whose journeys have brought them to homes by ways of forced displacement or seeking more opportunities.

Place-based education and access to land, which this map aims to support, must begin with a deep understanding of the true histories of indigenous land loss and the current realities of indigenous people’s relationship to the land. We hope this acknowledgment can serve as the first step towards restoring access to and sovereignty over these homelands and raising awareness among others as to the rich history and knowledge maintained by Indigenous communities for generations and continues to guide us all. We encourage all map users to understand these histories and current contexts of the land and consider how that impacts decisions you may make as you use the tool—our team at The Trust for Public Land is actively working to create and maintain longstanding relationships with Indigenous communities. It is these relationships and opportunities for learning that will help us support Indigenous communities and as an organization we would encourage others to do the same. To learn more about the lands you inhabit, we invite you to explore this resource: Native-Land.ca | Our home on native land.

How this dashboard can help

The Healthy Parks Explorer has 3 main components: a map to visualize parks and areas of park need, indicator infographics summarizing key health, environment, and community indicators, and a data table that summarizes data for each place in a downloadable format. Users can explore statistics for 3 boundary types: state legislative districts, counties, and cities/towns.

The map, data table, and infographics are comprised of 5 data categories:

natural environment infographics summarizing land cover, land use, canopy cover, impervious cover, trails, and parkland.
community indicators summarizing indicators considered important social determinants of health
environmental justice & natural distaster summarizing EJSCREEN, flood risk, and fire history data.
park need infographics summarizing the population outside a 10-minute walk from a park
10-minute walk infographics summarizing the park access statistics for the selected area or park.