NY State Parks Explorer vs exploreCHQ
Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both apps, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.
NY State Parks Explorer
Discover over 250 New York State parks, historic sites, and natural attractions. Plan your visits with enhanced trail mapping, essential information, and real-time alerts. Find new adventures, book camping, and explore diverse regions with ease.
- Discover parks and historic sites
- Enhanced trail mapping
- Park information (hours, fees, directions)
- Digital Empire Pass integration
- Online camping reservations
- Real-time alerts and updates
- Interactive map with location services
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From the oceanfront shores of Long Island to the mighty Niagara Falls, more than 250 parks, historic sites, trails, golf courses, boat launches, and campgrounds are just a few taps away. With the New York State Parks Explorer App, you can plan getaways, explore favorite regions and discover new adventures and cultural gems with easy access to enhanced trail mapping, must-sees, things to know before you go, apparel and merchandise, and regularly updated information including special events and alerts. Discover your next adventure, download the NY State Explorer app today. Key highlights and recent enhancements include: • Users can discover new must-see locations with rotating curated content, and will enjoy quick access to park information, including directions, hours, fees and rates, trail maps, and helpful know-before-you-go details; • Empire Pass holders have the option to digitally add their pass to the wallet within the NYS Explorer app. • Expansion of the search function so that visitors can search for parks and historic sites from multiple regions at a time. • Link directly to online camping reservations to book a stay, and • The option to favorite select properties to receive important updates and real-time alerts. Interactive map elements now provide visitors: • Easier wayfinding: When the user's mobile device's location services are turned "on", visitors can easily follow along with where they are on the map; • The ability to zoom in on and around each map to learn more about the facility; • Information about trails, park features, and amenities by simply tapping on a trail or icon; • Trail segment distance; and • The ability to change base layers in live maps from satellite view, simple street view, or topography.
exploreCHQ
Discover the natural beauty of the Chautauqua Institution campus with this self-guided touring app. Explore thousands of trees, hundreds of gardens, and the thriving lakeshore habitat alongside its renowned cultural activities.
- Self-guided campus tours
- Discover trees and gardens
- Explore lakeshore habitat
- Information on local flora and fauna
- Highlights cultural activities
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Chautauqua Institution is known for its lectures, theater, opera, symphony, ballet, sailing, golf, and tennis. But living amongst all that human activity is a rich natural world with thousands of trees and birds, hundreds of gardens, and a thriving lakeshore habitat. Use the Chautauqua Bird, Tree & Garden Club's self-guided touring app to discover the natural world on the 250-acre campus.
Screenshots
Verdict
The clearest difference is rating: exploreCHQ at 5.0 against NY State Parks Explorer's 3.6. NY State Parks Explorer's advantage is ratings volume (13 vs 2). On price, update cadence, ads and in-app purchases there is nothing between them.
Scored on Price · Rating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings · Update frequency · Ads · In-app purchases · Monetization · Best chart rank · Devices · Requires iOS
Both are free to download. Neither carries in-app purchases, so what you see is what you pay.
exploreCHQ holds the better App Store score, 5.0 against 3.6. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: NY State Parks Explorer has 13 ratings behind it against 2, so its average is the more settled of the two.
Both ship on a similar rhythm, roughly every 2 months. The most recent releases landed on September 15, 2026 and May 31, 2026 respectively.
| Parameter | NY State Parks Explorer | exploreCHQ |
|---|---|---|
| Price | Free | Free |
| Rating | 3.6 (13 ratings) | 5.0 (2 ratings) — better |
| Positive reviews | 23.9% of reviews | — |
| Number of ratings | 13 — better | 2 |
| Update frequency | Every 2 months | Every 2 months |
| Ads | No | No |
| In-app purchases | No | No |
| Monetization | Free | Free |
| Devices | iPhone, iPad | iPhone, iPad, iPod — better |
| Requires iOS | 16.0 | 15.1 — better |
| Further details — not scored | ||
| Size | 167 MB | 131 MB |
| Age rating | 4+ | 4+ |
| Developer | New York State Office of Information Technology Services | THE CHAUTAUQUA BIRD TREE AND GARDEN CLUB INC |
Customer experience
NY State Parks Explorer
exploreCHQ
Bugs and requests
NY State Parks Explorer
Reported bugs
21 issues- App freezes on launch
- App crashes on launch
- App stuck on 'Fetching Latest Data'
- Description gave wrong location and time
- App force closes on notifications page
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- App stuck on 'App is updating' screen
- App freezes or crashes every time
- App won't open after update
- App won't load
- App freezes at intro screen
- Unable to swipe past first screen
- App crashes before fully opening
- App glitches and goes back to landing page when scanning card
- Wallet section is pointless, ranger didn't accept pass
- App spontaneously removed Empire Pass
- Cannot search in the app
- App freezes and doesn't let me scroll
- Wallet feature not working
- Add card feature not working
- Cannot add Empire pass to wallet
- GPS not registering park boundary
Requested features
8 requests- Make maps for Adirondacks
- Add passes to Apple Wallet
- Include DEC parks and campgrounds
- Add a 'check in' feature
- Allow users to submit local suggestions
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- Improve map functionality (zoom, details)
- Add offline map capabilities
- Include NYS parks and campgrounds in search filters
exploreCHQ
Not enough reviews yet to summarise bugs or requests.
In-app purchases
NY State Parks Explorer
No in-app purchases
exploreCHQ
No in-app purchases
Questions
Is NY State Parks Explorer free?
Is exploreCHQ free?
Which has better reviews, NY State Parks Explorer or exploreCHQ?
Do NY State Parks Explorer or exploreCHQ have ads?
Which is updated more often, NY State Parks Explorer or exploreCHQ?
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