Parks and related areas are increasingly adopting management-by-objectives/indicatorbasedframeworks to protect resources and the quality of visitor experiences. Indicatorbasedframeworks rely on development of indicators and standards of quality, andresearch has been developed to measure visitor-based standards of quality. In this researchapproach, visitors to parks and related areas judge the acceptability of a rangeof recreation-related impacts to natural/cultural resources and the quality of the visitorexperience. The purpose of this paper is to explore the strength and variability of therelationship between visitor-based standards of quality and existing conditions in parksand related areas. Data were derived from studies conducted in 11 U.S. national parksystem units between 1995 and 2002. Results indicated that visitor-based standards ofquality are generally unrelated to existing conditions. Implications of these findings areexplored for research on visitor-based standards of quality and related issues, and forthe management of parks and outdoor recreation.