Glacier Crowned Park of the Year in National Vote

Montana Gem Defeats Maine’s Acadia in Championship Round of Parks Madness 2025

BETHESDA, MD, UNITED STATES, May 23, 2025 /EINPresswire.com/ -- The annual spring plowing of Going-to-the-Sun Road might still be underway, but Glacier National Park can prepare for its closeup after a convincing win over Acadia in Parks Madness 2025. Home to 175 mountains, 762 lakes and 25 active glaciers, spread over a million acres, the Montana park known as the Crown of the Continent tallied a 71-29% victory. As one voter put it, “Glacier is just…an awe-inspiring wonderland.”

With 2024 champion Yellowstone out of the tournament and historical parks and trails added to the mix, this year’s Parks Channel-EarthX Media competition generated tough matchups in every round – and two Cinderella stories with New River Gorge and Mesa Verde reaching the Sweet 16. Last year’s runner up, Zion, was upset by Grand Teton in the Elite 8. To reach the final, No. 3 seed Glacier had to glide past No. 2 seed Grand Canyon and No. 4 Rocky Mountains to win the Eagle bracket, then topple the Bear Bracket winner, Yosemite.

Acadia had a slightly easier path in the Bison bracket when No. 1 seed Statue of Liberty fell in the first round to New River Gorge. The Maine marvel, which boasts more than 130 miles of hiking trails and draws over 3.5 million visitors a year, had to wind past New York’s Central Park and Hawaii’s Haleakala, then No. 3 seed Shenandoah. In the Final Four it faced America’s most visited national park, the No. 1 seed and Owl bracket winner Great Smokies. Despite its loss to Glacier, Acadia had fervent backers. “Acadia is the only place I have ever been on a mountain hike, a beach hike and a lake hike all in one day!” voter Anna Bosco said.

Parks Madness 2025 came at a time when national parks are under increasing pressure from personnel and budget cuts, even as visitation reaches record levels. Voters expressed concern and support for the National Park Service even as they championed their favorites.

“I was lucky enough to spend nearly 12 months backpacking through the USA in 2023/24, leaving just after the election,” voter Simon Chelley said. “I managed to visit 35 national parks, plus plenty more monuments, national historic sites, state parks etc. and truly believe that the NPS represents some of the best of what the USA could be.”

ABOUT THE PARKS CHANNEL
The Parks Channel is a new platform for “America’s Best Idea” – at home, on the journey and for making memories. Our streaming app is available through Roku, Amazon Fire, Samsung and VIZIO. Our mobile-optimized website, theparkschannel.com, features over 500 curated and geotagged videos, enabling visitors to discover amazing places to go, informed by park superfans and others dedicated to public lands. Users can create their own pages, unlock park badges by submitting content and create curated gear checklists for travel based on where they want to go and what they like to do.

ABOUT EARTHX MEDIA INC.
EarthX is a multidimensional global non-profit, founded in 2011, dedicated to promoting the environment and sustainability. EarthX’s initiatives include the world’s premier environmental expo, high-impact conservation and investments forums, and grassroots programs across the globe.
Extending the EarthX mission are two TV entertainment networks that draw on a library of expertly curated original and first-run programming. EarthX is a premium channel available to over 20M U.S. PayTV households and EarthXtra is a 24/7 streaming channel featuring 100's of hours of premier and highly-engaging programming reaching 125 million monthly average users.
Learn more about EarthX: https://EarthxMedia.com

Alanna Zahn Davis
The Azure Group for Parks Channel
+1 917-699-6425
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