National Park Gift Guide: 30+ Thoughtful Gifts for National Park Lovers
If you’re wondering what to get someone who loves National Parks, this is the perfect gift guide for you!
Here are all the best national park gifts, from Acadia to Zion!
Table of Contents
How Do I Gift a National Parks Pass?
Easy! REI sells the America the Beautiful Annual Pass online.
If you want to get a great gift for someone whose park pass is expiring soon, or who doesn’t have one yet, this is a great and thoughtful gift!
For just $79.99 for the year, your giftee will get access to all of the National Parks and over 2,000 unique NPS-managed sites!
Best of all? They donate 10% of proceeds from sales to the National Parks Foundation!
US National Park Board Games
There are a number of board games dedicated to national parks!
If you’re looking for a gift for a kid who loves national parks — or a family — this is a great NPS gift!
PARKS Board Game
This strategy game is a great choice for families.
The game works a little similar to Settlers of Catan in that you collect resources, but the gameplay is a lot more simplified. Players traverse different “trails” and collect resources in order to exchange their resource tokens for different national parks!
The resource tokens are made of wood, representing the unique flora and fauna of the parks, and the cards feature unique illustrations from dozens of artists.
The game can be played solo or with a group of up to 4 people, and it’s perfect for families with kids over the age of 10.
Trekking the National Parks Board Game
Here’s another great strategy game perfect to give to a parks-loving family!
This game functions really similarly to Ticket to Ride, which is one of my favorite board games of all time!
It’s not as educational about the national parks as the PARKS board game above, but it will certainly spark curiosity and nostalgia when you play.
It’s a great gift to teach kids a bit of USA geography and inspire them to travel to more parks. It’s suitable for kids aged 10+.
Trekking the National Parks Trivia Game
This is a trivia game that is the most educational of the bunch, but it’s also a lot of fun even if you have very little national park knowledge.
The cool thing about the game is that the answer to every question is a number, and you don’t have to be exactly right to win! You just have to be the closest to the correct number without going over (Price is Right rules, anyone?) to win the round.
The focus on “guesstimation” makes the game a little more inclusive for families with young kids and gives them a shot at taking on family members who may have a little more knowledge than they do.
Monopoly National Parks Edition
If you are getting a gift for someone who loves national parks and board games, the classic park-themed Monopoly game is a great gift idea!
This doesn’t necessarily break any new ground, but does it need to? Monopoly is tried and true and classic for a reason.
The gameplay is the same, so no need to learn a whole bunch of new rules, but there are updates like park-themed tokens, battlefield parks and historic sites cards instead of the ‘community chest’ and ‘chance’ cards, and NPS sites instead of streets. And instead of houses and hotels, you can build campsites!
National Parks Playing Cards
You can never have enough playing cards, and I’m a sucker for a beautifully illustrated deck designed around a theme.
This set of national park playing cards is just that, with each card dedicated to a retro ‘poster’ like quality image, with the traditional suits and cards marked in the corners.
They have a high-quality heavy weight and look stunning. They come in a sturdy box and are the perfect gift for minimalists because they’re super useful and don’t weigh a lot — easy to throw in your bag for any parks trip or an RV vacation!
It’s also a great stocking stuffer!
National Park Posters
National Parks Scratch Off Maps
This National Park scratch-off map by Mappinners is so cute!
It has a handmade feel to it, and each little “letter” you scratch off reveals a beautiful illustrated postcard of the national park.
It’s a great gift to someone who has “visit all the national parks” on their bucket list, as they can add to their national park map as they explore and see more.
It’s also a romantic gift to give your partner if your goal is to visit more of America’s national parks together!
National Park Themed Gifts & Stocking Stuffers
National Park Bucket List Keychain
This keychain with tokens is one of the easiest way to keep track of your National Park bucket list!
You can customize this exactly to fit the national parks you want, and you can buy as many tokens as you want… from 1 to 63!
National Park Stickers
These beautiful Anderson Group-designed National Park stickers are a great gift for a parks collector!
This complete set includes 62 stickers — one for each National Park Service site* — printed on high-quality die-cut vinyl.
*Note that it’s missing one national park, New River Gorge, the newest park that was just added in 2020.
Stick them on your water bottle, notebooks, journals, laptops — whatever you like!
National Parks Passport Book & Journal
If you know a hiker who loves to take notes after their trail excursions in the National Parks, this is a fantastic gift idea.
It’s also great to give to a young person who is just starting their parks exploration, as it can serve as a memory bank for the future!
It has spots for passport stamps from the different parks as well as notes on all different aspects of their park experience.
Pocket-Sized National Parks Journal
This is another cute journal that is ultra-customizable. If you’re artistic, you can draw, if you’re not, you can just add park passport stamps!
It’s done in a “bullet journal” style where it has spreads for things like hikes you’ve taken, as well as notes for each park you’ve visited.
It’s ultra-cute and well-designed, and it would be a fantastic gift for someone whose goal it is to visit every one of America’s beautiful national parks!
Home Decor for National Park Lovers
National Parks Postcards
These postcards could very well be mailed, but I think they’re really cute as a simple home decor item!
Hang them up on a clothesline with clothespins for a super cute, low-cost way to add a lovely design element to your favorite national park enthusiast friend’s home!
Alternately, buy a few frames and frame them for your gift recipient — pick the parks you’ve been to together and it’ll have a memorable, customized touch.
National Park Coffee Table Books
Nothing is more inviting to dive into than a beautiful coffee table book full of gorgeous imagery and fun facts.
Here are the most beautiful coffee table books about the national parks!
Atlas of the National Parks
Created by National Geographic, it should be no surprise that this is all about the beautiful photography!
It is full of information, maps, infographics, text, and photography about 61 of our national parks!
Note that it doesn’t include our newest NPS, White Sands in New Mexico, which wasn’t made a national park until the end of 2019 — this book was published earlier in 2019.
Parks
This beautiful coffee table book is a great gift for those who merge their love of design and nature.
This nearly 400-page coffee table book contains all sorts of beautiful graphic design from over 100 years of National Parks maps, brochures, and other printed parks memorabilia.
Buy it online at the Parks Project.
National Park Guidebooks
There are a few great national park guidebooks that offer a super in-depth and detailed guide to all the parks.
Here are the ones I recommend!
Moon U.S. National Parks
Moon is one of my favorite brands of guidebooks. This National Parks travel guide book covers all the national parks and features the best outdoor adventures in each park.
It notes what the park is best for (ex: scenic drives, hikes, family-friendly, etc.) and gives road trip itineraries for linking several parks back-to-back (and where to stop in between the parks!
It also comes with a section for your NPS stamps and a foldable poster map to track your travels!
National Geographic Guide
There’s no brand more trusted when it comes to wildlife and nature photography — and so is it any surprise that National Geographic hit it out of the park (pardon the pun) when they created this guide?
This is the 2021 edition so it’s the most up-to-date, with 62 national parks covered within its 500+ pages.
This book is a behemoth resource your favorite parks enthusiast will love for years to come!
Experiential National Park Gift Ideas
Sometimes, one of the best gifts you can give someone is an experience they would maybe never purchase for themselves.
For example, a helicopter ride over their favorite national park!
National Park Gifts for Hikers
Pendleton Socks
These cute Pendleton socks are dedicated to different National Parks, and they’re cozy and thick so they won’t rub or chafe.
The colors represent the parks so it’s a subtle reference to the parks without being overly covered in insignia.
National Park Gifts for Kids
Junior Ranger Activity Book
This fun activity book is perfect for the future park ranger in your life!
A great gift for a niece or nephew who loves the parks, it’s educational, fun, inexpensive, and guaranteed to include hours of fun.
It’s a great gift for a little one who knows they have a national park road trip coming up!
Gift Ideas for Specific National Parks
Did you visit a specific park together and you want to give a gift that commemorates that particular national park adventure?
A park-specific gift is a great idea, as it feels a lot more personal. Add a little note to it for an extra perfect national park gift!
Read through this carefully because if you have a specific park in mind, it might be available even if it’s not listed. For example, there are candles for many different national parks, and the Pendleton boots come in several park themes.
Yosemite National Park
Yosemite Candle
This beautiful candle is dedicated to Yosemite National Park. It’s a thoughtful, potentially romantic gift option for people who have left their heart in Yosemite!
It’s part of the Elsewhere Candle Company’s National Parks collection. Each candle is handmade in Boulder, Colorado and is dedicated to a specific place.
For the Yosemite candle, it’s an earthy blend of cedar, oak moss, sandalwood, and juniper berries.
They also have several other national park-themed candles: Olympic National Park, Rocky Mountain National Park, Joshua Tree National Park, Acadia National Park, Yellowstone National Park, and more!
Yosemite Sweatshirt
This cute printed Yosemite sweatshirt is the perfect gift for someone who loves coziness and hikes in Yosemite!
It’s an affordable option and best of all, it’s unisex so it would be perfect gift for her or for him!
Yosemite Valley Topographic Map Carving
This gift is truly unique, and it’s a little insider-y and abstract, as not everyone will be able to tell right away that it’s a topographic map of Yosemite Valley.
It’s beautifully crafted from wood and would make the perfect gift for someone who is always California dreaming.
Glacier National Park
Glacier National Park T-Shirt
This charming Glacier National Park illustrated T-shirt is a great gift to commemorate a special time in Montana’s beautiful national park.
It’s a simple design but the illustration does capture the magic of this jewel of a national park!
Glacier National Park Ornament
This cute Christmas ornament is the perfect Christmas gift for a Glacier NP fan!
The ornament is in the shape of Montana and it’s made of a beautiful ceramic on a piece of Paracord. Each is hand-fired to order and unique!
They also make this ornament for other national parks, including Denali, Yellowstone, Grand Teton, etc.
Yellowstone National Park
Pendleton Short Rain Boots
This charming gift is as practical as it is personal!
I’m a big fan of the Yellowstone yellow color — they would pop so beautifully on a rainy day! — but there are all sorts of different colors and decals on this group of National Park themed boots.
There’s also Acadia Black, Crater Lake Navy, Olympic Smoke, Rainier Red, Rocky Mountain Olive, Yosemite Icy Blue, Glacier White, and Grand Canyon Navy!
Yellowstone Glasses
These pretty glasses have a print of a topographical map of Yellowstone on it!
It’s at once artistic and subtle and pretty cool for a friend who can’t get over their trip to Yellowstone.
Grand Canyon National Park
Coordinates Necklace
Another super-customizable national parks gift, you can pick your favorite place in the park system and have its coordinates engraved on a metal necklace!
This one includes the Grand Canyon’s coordinates, but you can customize it to whatever park you like.
Rocky Mountain National Park
Pendleton Tall Rain Boots
The same range of cool rainboots also come in a tall size!
I’m partial to the Rocky Mountain Olive, personally, as the tall size calls for a more muted color in my book!
Each rain boot comes with some stripes in a color pattern that speaks to the park as well as a small, subtle decal of the park featured.
It’s definitely not too loud a statement: it’s very well designed in that regard!
Grand Teton National Park
Grand Teton Necklace
There are few mountain ranges as distinctive as the Teton Range… so why not commemorate that with a beautiful necklace?
This gorgeous silver necklace embraces the simple beauty of the Tetons with a very minimalist design on one of three kinds of metal, so you can customize it to your taste.
Allison Green is a former teacher who has been travel blogging since 2016. She has a Masters in Teaching and a B.A. in English and Creative Writing. Her blog posts merge her background as an educator with her experience traveling to 70+ countries to encourage ethical, meaningful travel. She has been a speaker at the World Travel Writers Conference and her writing, photography, and podcasting work has appeared in National Geographic, CNN Arabic, CBC Canada, and Forbes, amongst others. Now a full-time traveler, she has lived in Prague, Sofia, New York City, and the San Francisco Bay Area.
