the buzz log
Come and Get 'Em While They're Hot: America's Parks for Free
America's parks may be the country's preserved wildernesses, but even they can't dodge the political and economic effects of the urban world.
The recession could shutter some of California's state parks, but now national park lovers have a reprieve: Interior Secretary Ken Salazar just swung open the gates to let visitors in for free at all 391 national parks on three weekends: June 20-21, July 18-19, August 15-16.
Of course, since 244 parks didn't charge in the first place, the deal's only a deal at 147 parks and monuments. Still, Salazar's heart is in the right place—our wallets.
That makes the timing of the top-searched national parks spot on. Take a look, and don't forget to pack a lunch before you go.
1. Grand Canyon National Park (Arizona)
2. Yellowstone National Park (Wyoming)
3. Yosemite National Park (California)
4. Rocky Mountain National Park (Colorado)
5. Glacier National Park (tie) (Montana)
5. Sequoia National Park (tie) (California)
6. Zion National Park (Utah)
7. Estes National Park (Colorado)
8. Great Smoky Mountains National Park (Tennessee)
9. Mammoth Cave National Park (Kentucky)
10. Bryce Canyon National Park (Utah)
Filed under: Parks, Outdoors, Tourist Attractions, Economics
Camping: What's the Point?
Once, during a stupid phase, we went camping. We slept in a tent, cooked vittles, and pretended to have fun. When we got home, we realized what fools we'd been. Why sleep in a tent when we have a perfectly good bed at home? Why eat beans from a can when we can order pizza from the comfort of our couch? In short, why camp? We're still struggling with that one, but apparently we're in the minority. Many happy campers are using Search to prepare for trips to the so-called "great outdoors."
Camping is up 32% in the Buzz this month, and related queries on "camping checklist," "camping equipment," and "camping recipes" are also surging. A look at the demographics indicates this bug-infested pastime is most popular in California, Illinois, and Virginia. Surprisingly (to us), women account for around 55% of the searches. Sheesh, who knew stereotypes could be wrong?
Despite being firmly established in the anti-camp camp, we managed to track down the most popular national parks in Search. Enjoy, and don't forget the bug spray...
top movers
| Rank | Subject | 1-Day Move |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Ford 400 | Breakout! |
| 2 | Indonesia Ferry | Breakout! |
| 3 | Jordan Chandler | 3481% |
| 4 | Evan Chandler | 2322% |
| 5 | American Music Awards | 1841% |
| 6 | John F. Kennedy | 1529% |
| 7 | Turkey Stuffing Recipes | 1361% |
| 8 | Liam Hemsworth | 1172% |
| 9 | Lou Dobbs | 1142% |
| 10 | Hendrick Motorsports | 888% |
top leaders
| Rank | Subject | Move | Score |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Black Friday | +340 | 1290 |
| 2 | NFL | +489 | 670 |
| 3 | Jennifer Lopez | +451 | 515 |
| 4 | New Moon | -67 | 250 |
| 5 | American Music Awards | +236 | 249 |
| 6 | UFC | -36 | 239 |
| 7 | Miley Cyrus | +66 | 169 |
| 8 | Hulu | -11 | 154 |
what's the buzz?
A subject's buzz score is the percentage of Yahoo! users searching for that subject on a given day, multiplied by a constant to make the number easier to read. Weekly leaders are the subjects with the greatest average buzz score for a given week.
For more detailed information, visit our FAQ.