Apple Celebrates America's National Parks This July With Donations and Apple Watch Challenge

Apple today announced it will donate $1 to the National Park Foundation for every purchase made with Apple Pay at any Apple Store, on Apple.com, or through the Apple Store app in the United States from July 1 through July 15.

apple pay national parks watch sticker

Apple Watch challenge inspired by U.S. National Parks

Apple said proceeds will support the National Park Foundation's mission to help protect and preserve national parks.

“America’s national parks are an inspiration to us at Apple, and we know they are as important to many of our customers as they are to us,” said Apple’s CEO Tim Cook. “Our goal is to leave the world better than we found it, so this July we’re making it easier for anyone to help preserve the beauty of our natural, cultural and historical treasures.”

Additionally, on July 15, Apple Watch users around the world can complete a walk, run, or wheelchair workout of 3.5 miles to earn an award and stickers for Messages inspired by national parks. Apple said the distance matches the length of a hike from Old Faithful to Mallard Lake in Yellowstone National Park.

iMessage stickers national parks

iMessage stickers inspired by U.S. National Parks

Apple said the App Store will highlight a collection of some of the best apps to help users easily navigate and explore the country's national parks.

Popular Stories

iOS 26

6 New Things Your iPhone Can Do in iOS 26.1

Wednesday October 29, 2025 4:22 am PDT by
Apple is about to drop iOS 26.1, the first major point release since iOS 26 was rolled out in September, and there are at least six notable changes and improvements to look forward to. We've rounded them up below. Apple has already provided developers and public beta testers with the release candidate version of iOS 26.1, which means Apple will likely roll out the update to all compatible...
ios 26 1 slide to stop

iOS 26.1 Brings Back 2007 Feature in New Way

Friday October 31, 2025 1:40 pm PDT by
The upcoming iOS 26.1 update includes a small but helpful change for iPhones, and it could prevent you from running late to something important. Specifically, when an alarm goes off in the Clock app, there is a new "slide to stop" control on the screen for turning off the alarm. On previous iOS 26 versions, there is simply a large "stop" button, which could be accidentally tapped. The new ...
iOS 26

iOS 26.1 Coming Soon: New Features for Your iPhone and Release Date

Monday October 27, 2025 7:55 am PDT by
The upcoming iOS 26.1 update includes a handful of new features and changes for iPhones, including a toggle for changing the appearance of the Liquid Glass design, "slide to stop" for alarms in the Clock app, and more. Below, we outline key details about iOS 26.1. Release Date Given that Apple has yet to seed an iOS 26.1 Release Candidate, which is typically the final beta version, the...
iPhone 17 Pro Cosmic Orange

8 Reasons to Wait for Next Year's iPhone 18 Pro

Thursday October 30, 2025 4:42 am PDT by
Apple's iPhone development roadmap runs several years into the future and the company is continually working with suppliers on several successive iPhone models at the same time, which is why we often get rumored features months ahead of launch. The iPhone 18 series is no different, and we already have a good idea of what to expect for the iPhone 18 Pro and iPhone 18 Pro Max. One thing worth...
M5 MacBook Pro

Waiting for New Macs? Apple Just Shared Bad News

Friday October 31, 2025 7:32 am PDT by
Apple has just given a strong indication that it will not be releasing any additional new Macs for the remainder of the year. Apple's CFO Kevan Parekh dropped the hint during the company's earnings call on Thursday:On Mac, keep in mind, we expect to face a very difficult compare against the M4 MacBook Pro, Mac mini, and iMac launches in the year-ago quarter.Parekh essentially gave a heads up ...
maxresdefault

Apple TV 4K Could Still Launch Before 2025 Ends: All the Rumored Features

Monday October 27, 2025 4:51 pm PDT by
Apple is designing an updated version of the Apple TV 4K, and rumors suggest that it could come out sometime in the next couple of months. We're not expecting a major overhaul with design changes, but even a simple chip upgrade will bring major improvements to Apple's set-top box. Subscribe to the MacRumors YouTube channel for more videos. We've rounded up all the latest Apple TV rumors. ...
ipad mini 7 feature blue

OLED iPad Mini: Release Date, Pricing, and What to Expect

Wednesday October 29, 2025 7:13 am PDT by
Rumors are stoking excitement for the next-generation iPad mini that Apple is reportedly close to launching. So what should we expect from the successor to the iPad mini 7 that Apple released over a year ago? Read on to find out. Processor and Performance Apple is working on a next-generation version of the iPad mini (codename J510/J511) that features the A19 Pro chip, according to...
iOS 26

Apple Seeds iOS 26.1, iPadOS 26.1, and macOS Tahoe 26.1 Release Candidates

Tuesday October 28, 2025 1:07 pm PDT by
Apple today provided developers and public beta testers with the release candidate versions of upcoming iOS 26.1, iPadOS 26.1, macOS Tahoe 26.1, tvOS 26.1, watchOS 26.1, and visionOS 26.1 updates for testing purposes. The RCs betas come a week after Apple released the fourth betas. The new betas can be downloaded from the Settings app on a compatible device by going to General > Software...
apple tv hd

Apple Launched Its Big New Vision for TV 10 Years Ago Today

Thursday October 30, 2025 8:58 am PDT by
Apple launched the Apple TV HD, the Siri Remote, tvOS, and their accompanying App Store a decade ago today, marking a major overhaul of the device. The new vision for the Apple TV was unveiled on September 9, 2015 during Apple's "Hey Siri" event in San Francisco, where CEO Tim Cook introduced the device with the statement, "The future of TV is apps." The announcement represented a major...

Top Rated Comments

Sunny1990 Avatar
109 months ago
Great.I really enjoy these watch activity challenges.
Score: 11 Votes (Like | Disagree)
ctg7w6 Avatar
109 months ago
I also enjoy these activity challenges. They are not too often, either, so they rarely get in the way of my own workout plan, but they aren't so rare that I stop caring. Very nice balance Apple.
Score: 5 Votes (Like | Disagree)
xDKP Avatar
109 months ago
So we get to join an achievement about American national parks and not Mother's Day? Makes sense :confused:
Score: 2 Votes (Like | Disagree)
Chupa Chupa Avatar
109 months ago
So in all these National Parks there are no animals other than a lonely eagle? Or is that a vulture? Either way it must be hungry with no prey around. Heh. Seriously, if you are going to pay tribute to National Parks then why not give a shout out on the sticker or badge to the endangered species that those parks seek to protect? Seems it would better highlight the work and purpose of the parks.
Score: 2 Votes (Like | Disagree)
Kenndac Avatar
109 months ago
I wonder if the achievement can be unlocked if we are based in Australia and complete the challenge. I know there has been countless times Apple has set challenges but they haven’t opened it up for Australia and other countries except for the US.
From the article:

On July 15, Apple Watch users around the world can complete a walk, run, or wheelchair workout…
Score: 2 Votes (Like | Disagree)
podlasek Avatar
109 months ago
I guess paying people good money + befits to work is a bad thing?
I think the Sentiment is that when more money is spent internally than makes it to the end group in need, it appears to be corruption, i.e. United Way, etc. where the scandals showed high salaries and only pennies making it to the people and projects in need.
Score: 2 Votes (Like | Disagree)