Trail Mix FAQ
Answers to the questions players ask most about Trail Mix.
Is there a daily national park guessing game?
Yes. Trail Mix is a free daily geography game: each day you name one of the 63 U.S. national parks from clues about its distance and direction, state, founding year, area and 2025 visitors. You have eight guesses.
How many national parks are there?
There are 63 national parks in the United States, and Trail Mix draws its daily puzzle and unlimited mode from all of them, from Acadia to Zion.
Which national park gets the most visitors?
Great Smoky Mountains recorded the most 2025 recreation visits of any park in Trail Mix, with 11,527,939 — more than any other of the 63.
How do you guess the park in Trail Mix?
Pick any of the 63 national parks and submit it as a guess. Each guess shows how its distance and direction, state, established year, area and visitors compare with the hidden park, so every guess narrows the map. You have eight guesses.
Why is a park’s area different from the NPS acreage report?
Trail Mix measures area from the National Park Service’s own official boundary polygons for the whole unit, including any attached national preserve, rather than from a separately published acreage table. How far that figure drifts from other published totals varies from park to park, so there is no single percentage to correct for.
Does Trail Mix include national monuments?
No. Trail Mix only includes the 63 places carrying the “national park” designation itself, not national monuments, national preserves standing alone, or any other unit type the National Park Service manages.
What time does the new park unlock?
A new daily puzzle unlocks at midnight in your own time zone. Everyone gets the same park on the same calendar date.
Is Trail Mix free?
Yes. The daily puzzle, the archive and unlimited mode are all free to play, with no account required.
Who makes Trail Mix?
Trail Mix is made by Guessday, an independent site of original daily guessing games. It is not affiliated with the National Park Service.
What do the colors and arrows mean?
Blue means a match, orange means close and white means a miss. Distance shows a compass arrow pointing from your guess toward the hidden park; established, area and visitors show a simple up or down arrow for whether the true figure is higher or lower than your guess.
Do hints affect my streak?
No. Hints never break a streak. Free hints add a light bulb to your shared result, while hints unlocked by watching an optional ad do not.
Can I play puzzles I missed?
Yes. The archive lists every past daily puzzle. Archive rounds count toward your statistics, but only today’s puzzle extends your streak.