More than 100 leaders in healthcare, environment, government, business and nonprofits recently engaged in a Healthy Parks, Healthy People US forum to determine how the National Park Service can help drive health and wellness programs in local, state and national parks. “We aim to increase the awareness of all parks as places for exercise and healthy living,” explains National Park Service Director Jon Jarvis.

Parks across the country are now joining others around the world in reconnecting the dots between a healthy, natural world and the health of humankind. As Jarvis notes, “Parks are a direct reflection of the American ideal that… personal access to the natural world plays a vital role in our physical and emotional well-being.”

To locate a park, visit nps.gov.