Hey there, and welcome to Dirt In My Shoes!
My name is Ash, and I am a former park ranger. Today, I wanted to take a minute and share some of my favorite national park gifts with you (mostly things I’ve bought for myself over the years). All of these gift ideas are things that I own and use often.
I want to help you find the perfect gift for the national park adventurer in your life because, let’s be honest, people who love national parks ROCK!
If you happen to be a national park enthusiast yourself, this list is a great thing to pass on to your family and friends come Christmas or birthday time! (Don’t forget about Mother’s Day or Father’s Day, too!) You know, give them a little nudge in the right direction.
So, without further ado, here is my list of 29 perfect gifts for the national park adventurer:
This post about national park gifts contains affiliate links, which means that (at no extra cost to you) I receive a small compensation if you make a purchase.
1: America the Beautiful National Parks Pass
Give the gift of adventure with an America the Beautiful Annual Pass — it provides entry into all National Parks for a year! This pass is a fantastic way to give your friends and family the freedom to explore the wonders of the American wilderness without breaking the bank.
You can quickly get a pass for you or a friend at REI.
2: 2025 National Parks Calendar
Celebrate a different park each month of the year with this National Parks 2025 Calendar. With compelling images from some of the most iconic landscapes in America, this calendar is a beautiful way to organize your schedule and plan your events.
This item is created by the National Park Foundation — profits from this product are used to support America’s national parks!
This calendar is available on Amazon.
3: National Parks Push Pin Map
I have this map hanging up in my house, and I absolutely love it!
All 63 parks are on this map, and it comes with push pins so you can mark where you’ve been. It’s easy to customize the text/style, and the quality is great.
Take a closer look: Amazon
4: National Park Itinerary
Believe it or not, now you can give someone a thoroughly planned vacation itinerary to their favorite national park! A Dirt In My Shoes itinerary is all it takes to have a phenomenal vacation!
With these itineraries, I’ll show you how to avoid the crowds, organize your time, and see the BEST sights in the park.
You can find the itineraries here — or if you are wondering if an itinerary is right for you, check out these Dirt In My Shoes itinerary reviews.
5: The National Parks: An Illustrated History
Whether you are looking to know more about the history of the national parks, searching for your next dream adventure, or just wanting to admire stunning photography, this book will inspire you!
It celebrates the first 100 years of the national parks, the history of these inspiring places, and the people who have made them into what they are today.
Admire this beautiful book here: Amazon
6: Camera for Kids
My cute little boys love to capture their own photos when we’re out exploring the national parks, and people ask me all the time where I got the cameras they are using!
These are the cameras they love. The photos aren’t super high quality, but the cameras have held up through our adventures. Taking their own photos has helped them enjoy hiking and exploring even more.
If you’re looking for a great camera for adults, check out the camera I use.
7: Xplorer Maps And Tote Bags
I am OBSESSED with these maps!
These gorgeous, hand-drawn maps highlight the beauty of the parks — they are so much fun to look at. I love staring at the Xplorer map I have hanging up in my office!
Take a look at the maps of the national parks that are currently available: Amazon || Xplorer Maps
You can also opt for a reusable canvas tote bag, so you can take a reminder of your adventures with you to work or school!
Check out the available tote bags here: Amazon || Xplorer Tote Bags
8: Trekking the National Parks Board Game
If you’re looking for the perfect way to celebrate the national parks and spend quality time together as a family, Trekking the National Parks is the perfect gift.
This award-winning game is great for players of all ages. It’s simple enough for the whole family to play but interesting enough to keep everyone engaged. I love playing this with my kids!
Learn more about this board game here: Amazon
9: National Parks Passport
Commemorate each trip to a national park with a stamp in your passport book!
These passports are extremely popular among park enthusiasts and are a great way to keep track of the locations and dates of your epic vacation.
10: WPA-Style National Park Posters
These beautiful park posters will look fabulous on any national park adventurer’s wall — I have several on mine!
Each poster highlights a park in the WPA-style format. This style is from the 1930s and 40s when the government commissioned artists to create poster designs for activities, events, and travel destinations.
Rob Decker is perhaps the best-known artist that recreates national park posters in this style. He studied under the famous photographer Ansel Adams and has a great love for the national parks.
You can find Rob Decker’s WPA-Style Posters here: Amazon
11: Photo Tracks — these are my favorite way to display my travel photos — setting up and switching photos out is SO easy! Get them here.
12: Dilbert the Duck — my kids love these books about a duck that travels to the national parks! Get $5 off your order here with the coupon code dirtinmyshoes
13: National Park Games — fun national park-themed games like Monopoly, Yahtzee, and Trivial Pursuit.
14: The Lost Art of Reading Nature’s Signs — for any avid hiker who wants to learn more about using natural surroundings to find your way, predict the weather, find food, and other fun facts! Find this fun book on Amazon.
15: The National Parks by Ken Burns — this documentary is fascinating and should be in every park lover’s movie collection! Available on Amazon.
16: Wild Tribute Apparel — quality national park shirts and sweaters. Each purchase gives back to the parks! Find your favorite design at Wild Tribute.
17: Musky Trails National Park Candles — these candles smell amazing and are made to represent the lovely nature smells of the national parks. I love the Mount Rainier scent! The wick even crackles like a campfire when burned. Available on Amazon.
18: National Parks Cookbook — recreate your favorite meals from your national parks trips with this cookbook! Available on Amazon.
20: Dowdle National Parks Puzzle — stay busy with these lovely 500-piece national park puzzles available on Amazon. The scenes in these puzzles are captivating!
21: Rumpl National Park Blankets — give the gift of warmth with a cozy and packable blanket.
22: Campfire Stories – Tales from America’s National Parks — this entertaining book is excellent for storytelling around the campfire in your favorite national park. Read more about it on Amazon.
23: National Parks Greeting Card Set — these are the greeting cards I use at Dirt In My Shoes. They are high-quality and beautiful!
25: National Park Map Mug — each mug has a beautiful picture of the park on the outside and a fun map of the park on the inside! Several styles are available on Amazon, and you can find more on the McGovern and Company website.
26: National Parks Scratch-Off Poster — track the parks you’ve visited and plan your next adventure with this attractive and fun poster, available on Amazon.
27: Goodr National Park Sunglasses — wear these brightly covered shades and show your love for the parks at the same time! See the available park designs on REI.
28: TRAILS Game — play this portable and challenging game after a day out hiking. Its compact size will easily fit in your backpack! Find it on Amazon.
29: National Parks Water Bottle — stay hydrated on the trail with this stainless steel, double-walled water bottle. Several colors are available, with or without tracking stickers, on Wondery‘s website.
Did you know I have a big collection of my favorite things on Amazon?
It includes my favorite hiking gear, kid’s gear, travel items, books to read, and more! You’ll also find a bunch of great gift ideas here ⬇️
I hope this list helps you give the perfect national park gifts this year. Next step….convincing your national park-loving friend to take you along on their upcoming adventures! Happy trails!
Click Next to read about my Favorite Hiking Gear (which also has some wonderful gift ideas for your favorite hiker)!
Disclosure: This post about national park gifts contains affiliate links, which means that (at no extra cost to you), I receive a small compensation if you make a purchase. I only recommend products that I love! Please reach out with any questions you may have about any products featured on my site. Thanks! Ash
The game, TRAILS, is super fun, is relatively inexpensive, easy to learn and small so you can carry it along on trips. There’s also another one called PARKS.
Thanks!
Hi Ash,
This is a great list we will definitely be getting some of these this year. We used your itineraries for Yellowstone, Grand Teton, Arches, Capitol Reef, Bryce,Zion and Yosemite. It was an epic trip and your itineraries were absolutely essential and fantastic. We went to other NP too without your itinerary and it just wasn’t the same. Love the great details on hikes and hidden hikes and the magic in how you plan the days. We are in love with National Parks and your guides! We cannot thank you enough.
Keep them coming!
Anne and Chris
Wow, thank you so much! I’m so honored to have been a part of your national park vacation!
I love this list! Thanks! I recently decided to explore as many national parks as possible and love what you’ve put together.
Thanks, Sheila. Enjoy your adventures in the national parks!
You have a really great list and I was wondering about a couple of things.
First, I have seen a number of publishers who advertise the WPA type of national park posters. Keeping them straight is so confusing! You feel Rob Decker is the go-to dude for this type of art?
The Sony camera is my next question: it is really all digi everything? I have gone through several cameras in the past few years that range from $200-$400 from either Sony or Canon. I am not one for adjusting, like with a real expensive camera as I would probably miss the shot! This one sounded intriguing to me and wondered if you have other additional comments on this camera.
My husband and I cancelled our adventure to Yellowstone and the Tetons for this year, but really really hope to make it in 2021! Our travels now include visiting national parks, monuments, historic sites and the like!
Thank you so much!
I like the Rob Decker style, but you’re right, there are a lot of options. I think you should choose the posters that have the look you like…some have more words, some have different pics or fonts…it really depends on what you like!
As for the camera, I honestly NEVER fiddle with the manual options. With two small children, there’s always a lot going on when I’m trying to take my photos. I just don’t have time to sit and mess with settings — I literally just point and shoot with this camera, and I love it!
I hope you’re able to make it to a lot of fun places in 2021. Safe travels!
Hi Ash! Thanks for adding our National Park Map Mug to your list!! It is pointing to our Amazon site but we often put them on sale on our website mcgovernandcompany.com Also would be glad to offer a special “dirt in my shoes” (love that name!) discount for the holidays.
Side note we are 100% women led company 10 of us now. We are starting a series interviewing female rangers coming soon, we would love to chat with you about it!
Hey Colleen,
That’s awesome…I love your mugs!! I didn’t realize you had all of those other awesome products too. I’ll shoot you an email and we can chat!
-Ash
I love your ideas! You are always so helpful! I appreciate your blog and all the information you provide.
Thanks Magdalena! Happy Holidays!
If your looking for a passport book I would recommend Passport To Your National Park Collectors Edition, it has more places and a wider variety than any other book I’ve seen.
Awesome thanks for the info Scott!
Thank you for these ideas. You have me thinking of Christmas now and who would like some of the items you mentioned. Great timing! Happy Thanksgiving to you and your family
Happy Thanksgiving to you Elizabeth!
Great list! You should totally add Jeremy Collins’ calendar and shirts that also feature is amazing NPS artwork sold through Meridian Line!!
Thanks for the recommendation…I’ll take a look!
I wish there was a t-shirt that had an pictorial illustration of all the national parks in the United States. I saw a jigsaw puzzle that had one and had wished that pictorial illustration could have been found on t-shirts.
Do you know of such t-shirts that do? I certainly would buy one. :-)
By the way, I love your website! I have done 30 national park visits in my lifetime with more to go.
Very cool! I’ve only seen shirts with a list of the parks…not pictures. I’ll keep an eye out though!
Hi Ash! Wishing you and your family a wonderful holiday season. Thank you for this Christmas list reminder. By the way, I did see an illustrated t shirt on Amazon (one of the websites you suggested) that shows the USA map with the names of the national parks. I hinted to one of my daughters that the t -shirt would be a nice gift for Mother’s day :-)
Haha awesome! I’ll have to look it up!