Will the Great Smoky Mountains N.P. take it all?

Rand McNally pits 58 parks against each other in "National Park Madness" bracket

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Apr 02, 2015, 11:05 ET

SKOKIE, Ill., April 2, 2015 /PRNewswire/ -- With just days left in the annual basketball tournament that fuels college rivalries and office pools, Rand McNally is down to an Elite Eight of the outdoor type. The company, known for premier maps, navigation and travel content, has pitted some of the country's national treasures against each other with its first-ever U.S. National Park Madness via social media.

Rand McNally is the country's most trusted source for maps, navigation, and travel content. For more than 75 years, Rand McNally has been an innovator in the Commercial Transportation market - from providing mileage and routing software, to truck navigation and E-Logs to mobile fleet management solutions. Learn more at randmcnally.com.

The Rand McNally Facebook page has been abuzz with comments since March 19, when the first votes were cast. As the tournament has progressed, fans have voted for their favorite parks and shared stories about summer vacations, beautiful hikes, and even a few marriage proposals. Some of the lesser-known parks, such as Colorado's Black Canyon of the Gunnison and Florida's Dry Tortugas, rallied their Facebook fans to knock off top-seeded rivals.

After three rounds, eight of the 58 National Parks were still standing. The Elite Eight are:

Great Smoky Mountains
Cuyahoga Valley
Grand Canyon
Yosemite
Black Canyon of the Gunnison
Zion
Yellowstone
and Grand Teton

These matchups will be contested on April 2, with the Final Four voting taking place on April 3 and the championship on April 6.

The methodology for National Park Madness was carefully considered. First, all of the 58 designated National Parks were plotted on a map and categorized roughly into four geographic regions: East, Central, West, and Northwest. Statistics from the National Parks Service on the numbers of visitors to each park over the past ten years determined the seeding. First-round byes were granted to all four #1 seeds and the top two #2 seeds. The rest matched up in the same manner as the NCAA basketball tournament.

As the summer travel season approaches, National Park Madness serves as a reminder to visit some of the most incredible places on the map.

Which of America's National Parks will win the title? The results will be determined by votes on Facebook and Instagram. To cast a vote and learn more, visit https://www.facebook.com/randmcnally. To see the complete bracket, visit http://www.randmcnally.com/pages/parkmadness2015.

About Rand McNally – Rand McNally is the country's most trusted source for maps, navigation, and travel content. Products and services include: America's #1 Road Atlas; IntelliRoute® truck routing software; TND™ truck GPS; HD 100 E-Log devices; TPC 7600 and TND™ 760 mobile fleet management solutions; RVND™ GPS for RVers; and leading geography-based educational resources for the classroom. Learn more at randmcnally.com

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SOURCE Rand McNally