Short answers to what visitor centers, museums, parks and trails ask us most: guest books, old archives, QR check-ins, signs, reports, privacy and pricing.
Public Lands Log is web software that turns visitor guest books and QR check-ins into visitor counts, maps of where visitors came from, and reports for boards and funders. Visitor centers, museums, parks and trails photograph their guest-book pages with any phone, check each entry against the original page, and post QR check-in signs where there is no front desk.
Visitor centers, museums and historic sites, state and local parks, trails and trail groups, byways, heritage areas and tourism offices. If people sign a book at your desk, or walk past a trailhead with no desk at all, it's built for you.
No. Public Lands Log runs in a web browser on the phones and computers you already have, and you can set it up yourself in a few minutes. Request access and we'll email you an invitation to create your account. Organizations with 10 or more sites can book a time to talk first.
Photograph each page with any phone, right in the browser, or upload scans and PDFs. Public Lands Log reads the names, hometowns and dates, about 20 entries a page, in seconds. Your staff then check each row against the original page and fix anything that was misread. Nothing counts until they publish the page.
Yes, every year you have. Old pages work the same way as new ones, and each entry keeps the date written on the page, so past seasons land in the right months. A national historic trail added 151 guest-book sheets covering 2024 to 2026, and its staff checked a new batch of 38 sheets the same afternoon they came in. Plans include old pages in your first year, and more are $99 for each 1,000, one time. See pricing.
Yes. Print blank sign-in sheets with your logo from your dashboard and put them out at the desk. They are made to be photographed and read back in. Where there is no desk at all, use a QR check-in sign.
No. Visitors scan the sign with their phone camera and the page records the visit. They can then answer two optional questions: where they're visiting from, and whether they're staying overnight. Skipping is one tap. Try the demo check-in; it saves nothing.
Post a QR check-in sign. Hikers scan it with their phone camera and the check-in is recorded, with no app and no account. Check-ins are voluntary, so we report them as check-ins, not as total visitation. If you also run Eco-Counter or TRAFx counters, import their CSV files; counter totals stay separate. How QR check-ins work.
A big QR code with your logo. Download a print-ready PDF in Letter, 8 × 10, 12 × 18 or 18 × 24 inches and print it at your desk or at any print shop. Weatherproof aluminum signs ordered through Public Lands Log are coming soon; ask us if you want to be first.
Monthly counts by site and by source, a map of where visitors came from, and a monthly report, ready to download and share as a PDF. Funder exports cover Washington lodging-tax (JLARC) fields, Texas hotel occupancy tax post-event attendance with attendee ZIP codes, heritage-area partner annual attendance and monthly counts. Everything downloads as CSV or PDF. See the reports.
It exports the figures Washington lodging-tax recipients report to JLARC: overall attendance, visitors from 50 miles or more, and visitors from out of state or out of the country, plus overnight stays from the QR check-in answers. It also exports Texas hotel occupancy tax post-event attendance, including the list of attendee ZIP codes. Each export says how its numbers were counted. Each city or county sets its own form, so check yours. See the funder exports.
No, and every report says so. It counts the people who signed your book, scanned your sign or used your front-desk kiosk. QR check-ins are reported as check-ins, not as total visitation, and trail counter totals are kept separate, so nothing is counted twice. Each report says where every number came from.
Yes. Import the CSV files from Eco-Counter or TRAFx counters. Counter totals appear next to your guest-book entries and check-ins, labeled as counter detections, and are never added into them.
Yes. Add every visitor center, trailhead or partner site to one organization. Each person gets their own login, staff can be limited to one site, and reports add up across sites and break down by site. A combined view across separate organizations, such as independent partners that each have their own account, is not available yet. How it works for many sites.
Small $190 a year for one small site; Standard $490 a year or $49 a month; Network from $2,900 a year for 10 or more sites. Every plan starts with a 30-day free trial, no card. See pricing.
No. Those services estimate visits from phone location data. Public Lands Log records the people who actually signed your book or scanned your sign at the site. If you already buy phone-location estimates, on-site counts like these are a way to check them.
Names stay in your organization's account and are never shown publicly. Public maps show counts by area, never names. We don't sell visitor data or use advertising trackers. Details are in our privacy policy.
Terrain360 LLC, based in Richmond, Virginia.
Request access and we'll email you an invitation. Then add your site and photograph a page; the names and hometowns are read in seconds. No call, no app to install, no card.
Plans from $190 a year. See pricing · Managing 10 or more sites? Talk to us