Look. We’ve all been there. You’ve got a beautiful mountain range, a couple of breathtaking Natural Wonders, and a Naturalist standing right on the edge of the woods, ready to make history. You click the button. Nothing. The "Build National Park" lens stays grey. You’re staring at the screen, clicking frantically, wondering why the game hates you. It’s frustrating. It's actually one of the most needlessly opaque mechanics in Sid Meier’s Civilization VI.
Most players treat a Civ 6 National Park as a late-game afterthought. They spam some Tourism at the end to clinch a Culture Victory. But if you actually understand how the diamond grid works, you realize these parks are basically the "secret sauce" for high-level play. They don't just give you Tourism; they provide massive Amenities that keep your empire from spiraling into a rebellious mess during late-game wars.
But seriously, the placement rules are a total nightmare if you haven't memorized the checklist.
The Diamond Rule That Breaks Everyone's Brain
The game tells you that you need a "vertical diamond" of four tiles. That sounds simple. It isn’t. Here is the reality: every single one of those four tiles must be within the borders of the same city. This is where 90% of players mess up. You’ll have three tiles owned by Kyoto and one tile owned by Osaka. To the naked eye, it looks like a perfect diamond. To the game engine, it’s an illegal move.
You have to go into the city management screen and manually "swap" the tiles so one city owns all four.
And they have to be Charming or better. If you have one tile of "Average" appeal because there’s a stray Industrial Zone or a Mine nearby, the whole thing is ruined. You can't just ignore the land. You have to curate it. It’s basically digital landscaping. If you've got a Rainforest tile in that diamond, chop it. Rainforests tank Appeal. Marshes? Drain them. You want Woods, Mountains, or Wonders.
💡 You might also like: Why Batman Arkham City Still Matters More Than Any Other Superhero Game
Why Appeal Is the Only Stat That Matters
In a Civ 6 National Park, your Tourism output is literally just the sum of the Appeal of all four tiles. If you place a park on four "Breathtaking" tiles with an average Appeal of 6, you're getting 24 Tourism. That’s huge. That’s more than most Wonders give you.
How do you juice those numbers?
- Eiffel Tower: This is the Holy Grail. It gives +2 Appeal to every single tile in your empire. If you're going for a Culture Victory, you basically shouldn't even start building parks until this is finished or close to it.
- Alvar Aalto and Charles Correa: These Great Engineers are game-changers.
- The Biosphère: Often overlooked, but it boosts Appeal for tiles adjacent to Rainforests and Marshes if you’re playing the New Frontier Pass content.
Wait, I should mention the "Builder trick." You can actually manually increase a park's value after it's built. Plant Woods. Seriously. Every Woods tile you plant adds +1 Appeal to adjacent tiles. If you surround your National Park with a ring of second-growth forest, you’re essentially printing Tourism. It's kind of broken if you have enough Builders.
The Naturalist vs. The Mountie
Standard games require a Naturalist. They cost Faith. A lot of Faith. And the price goes up every time you buy one. This is why a "Cultural" civ needs a high Holy Site output, which feels counterintuitive to new players. Why am I building Temples to get a National Park? Because the game says so.
But if you’re playing as Wilfred Laurier of Canada, you’re playing a different game entirely. Canada gets the Mountie. It’s a cavalry unit that can create a Civ 6 National Park twice. They are cheaper than Naturalists in the long run and you can build them with Production. It makes Canada one of the most terrifying late-game Culture powerhouses because they can carpet their tundra in parks while everyone else is struggling to scrape together enough Faith for a single Naturalist.
📖 Related: Will My Computer Play It? What People Get Wrong About System Requirements
Specific Requirements You Can't Ignore
- The tiles must be in a vertical diamond shape.
- No improvements are allowed. None. If you have a Farm there, you have to bulldoze it.
- No Districts.
- All tiles must be "Charming" (Appeall 2+) or better.
- One of the tiles must be able to hold a unit (meaning you can't have a park made entirely of impassable mountains, though you can have three mountains and one flat tile for the Naturalist to stand on).
Honestly, the "no improvements" rule is what catches people off guard. You might have a Strategic Resource like Coal or Aluminum under one of those tiles. If you turn it into a park, you can't mine it. You have to choose: do you want to build Tanks, or do you want to show people some pretty trees? In a Culture Victory race, the trees usually win.
The Amenity Secret
People forget that National Parks provide +2 Amenities to the city that owns them and +1 Amenity to the four closest cities in your empire. This is massive. If you’re struggling with war weariness or your population is growing faster than your luxury resources can handle, a couple of parks can stabilize your entire civilization.
It’s not just about the "win condition." It’s about keeping your people happy so they keep working those tiles efficiently. A "Happy" or "Ecstatic" city gets significant percentage buffs to all yields. So, in a weird way, building a park can actually help your Science or Gold output by proxy.
Dealing with the "Mountain Problem"
Mountains always have a base Appeal of 4. This makes them perfect candidates for parks. However, since you can't "stand" on a mountain, your Naturalist has to be able to physically move onto at least one of the four tiles in the diamond. This tile must be "land" (not water, not mountain).
I’ve seen players plan these elaborate diamonds across the Himalayas in-game, only to realize the only "flat" tile in the diamond is a Lake. Naturalists can't swim. Well, they can embark, but they can't "found" the park from the water. It’s these little technicalities that make Civ 6 National Park placement feel like a puzzle game inside a strategy game.
👉 See also: First Name in Country Crossword: Why These Clues Trip You Up
Tactical Next Steps for Your Current Save
If you are looking at your map right now and wondering where to start, stop guessing.
First, hit the Appeal Lens (hotkey 3 on PC). Look for the dark green areas. Those are your targets. If you see a spot that's almost green, check for nearby Mines or Industrial Zones. Removing a single Mine can often flip three or four adjacent tiles from "Average" to "Charming," suddenly making a National Park valid.
Second, check your City Borders. Use the "Swap" button in the citizen management menu to consolidate your best tiles into a single city’s control. You might have to wait a few turns for the borders to expand naturally, or just buy the tiles with Gold if you're in a hurry.
Finally, don't sleep on the Eiffel Tower. If you see an AI starting it, you either need to beat them to it or prepare to use a Great Engineer to rush it. It is the single most important Wonder for maximizing the efficiency of every Civ 6 National Park you intend to build.
Once the park is down, immediately send a Builder to plant Woods on any empty tiles adjacent to the park. This reinforces the Appeal and squeezes every last drop of Tourism out of the land.
Stop thinking of your land as just a place for Districts. Start looking for the diamonds.
Actionable Insights for Your Next Session:
- Audit your Appeal: Use the lens to identify "Average" tiles that are being dragged down by nearby Mines or Quarries.
- Consolidate Ownership: Ensure all four diamond tiles belong to one city using the "Swap" feature.
- Plan for Faith: If you aren't playing as Canada, start accumulating Faith early; Naturalist costs scale aggressively.
- Prioritize the Eiffel Tower: It is the primary multiplier for National Park viability across your entire empire.
- Plant Trees: Use late-game Builders to "buff" the Appeal of your parks by planting second-growth Woods on all surrounding tiles.