Half Dome, Grinnell Point and Ruby Beach each give these hats a connection to a particular place. The practical part is fit: a soft cap, a tall trucker and a bucket feel quite different, even when they show the same park.
Our picks
Under $25$24.99
Already Design Co. · sold by Yosemite Conservancy
A Half Dome patch cap from Yosemite Conservancy.
Many Glacier$32
Glacier National Park Conservancy
Grinnell Point over Swiftcurrent Lake, from the Glacier Conservancy.
Panoramic embroidery$44.99
Rainier Hat Co.
The view embroidered on the cap, plus a map to the spot.
Park sun hat$35
T.R. McTaggart · sold by Grand Canyon Conservancy
A bucket hat with a Grand Canyon patch, in two sizes.
For the trail$41
Joshua Tree National Park Association
Wide brim, chin cord and a neck flap, from Joshua Tree’s store.
For winter$35
Pendleton
Pendleton’s park stripes in a knit that stretches to fit.
Pick the park they’ve been to
Compare Yosemite, Glacier, Rocky Mountain, Grand Canyon and Mount Rainier hats to match a familiar view with a shape they already wear.
Knowing a favorite spot helps narrow the choice. A Grinnell Point patch, for instance, connects the gift to Many Glacier rather than just the park name.
If they haven’t been yet, buy for the trip instead. The best national park hats has a hat for each type of trip, and the hiking guides for Zion and the Grand Canyon cover those trails.
Buy the shape they already wear
Their everyday hat is a useful guide to crown height and stiffness, even if it has nothing to do with the parks.
- Structured snapback
- Unstructured dad cap
- Trucker
- Bucket hat
- Sun hat with neck cape
- Beanie
Stiff or soft is the main thing. A stiff cap’s front stands up on its own, and Rainier Hat Co.’s caps are that shape, like a trucker with a cloth back instead of mesh. The Half Dome and Grinnell Point picks are truckers.
A dad cap folds flat and slouches, like Rocky Mountain Conservancy’s $24.99 Night Sky Bear cap. Park hat styles, explained covers the rest.
Under $30
Most adult caps at park stores cost $25 to $32, and the nonprofits that run the stores put what they earn back into the park. Some brands say they give too. Which national park hats give back sorts out who does.
Best for a Yosemite gift under $25
Half Dome Patch Hat
Already Design Co., sold by Yosemite Conservancy
- Style
- Blue-and-white trucker with a navy brim and mesh back
- Design
- Yosemite Half Dome patch
- Fit
- Snapback
- Giving
- Sold by Yosemite Conservancy, the park's nonprofit partner
Half Dome is an easy-to-recognize Yosemite design, and this is the least expensive pick. It comes from Yosemite Conservancy, which the Park Service says gives the money from its sales to the park.
Downsides
The store doesn’t list a size range. Yosemite Conservancy takes 3 to 7 business days to pack an order before it ships, so order early.
Other park stores sell caps like it. North Cascades Institute sells $21.95 caps with an embroidered animal on the front, and you pick the animal. Zion Forever’s $21.99 Watchman cap is a trucker with a full-color patch of the peak on the front.
The best national park hats has more under $30.
Patch and embroidered caps
Best for someone who remembers Many Glacier
Grinnell Point Sunburst Hat
Glacier National Park Conservancy
- Style
- Trucker-style cap
- Design
- Panoramic patch of Grinnell Point reflected in Swiftcurrent Lake
- Made of
- 74% polyester, 26% cotton
- Fit
- Snapback
- Giving
- Sold by Glacier National Park Conservancy, the park's nonprofit fundraising partner
The patch shows Grinnell Point reflected in Swiftcurrent Lake, a view anyone who stayed at Many Glacier will know. It comes from the Glacier Conservancy, which runs the park’s stores.
Downsides
Shipping is $10 on an order this size.
Best for someone who's watched the sun go down at Ruby Beach
Olympic National Park Hat
Rainier Hat Co.
- Style
- Structured mid-profile 5-panel snapback
- Design
- Panoramic embroidery of Ruby Beach at sunset across the front and sides
- Made of
- 100% cotton crown in heather gray
- Fit
- Plastic snapback; one size
- Care
- Hand wash only
- Giving
- Rainier Hat Co. says it donates 100% of profits to national park nonprofits
- Reviews
- 5.0 from 15 reviews on Rainier Hat Co.'s site
Ruby Beach at sunset, with Abbey Island, sea stacks and a pod of orcas. It’s embroidered across the front and around both sides, with no patch and no logo. Rainier Hat Co. says each design is a spot you can stand on, and a QR code inside opens the spot in Google Maps.
Rainier Hat Co. makes the same cap for 16 other parks, each with its own view.
Downsides
$44.99 is near the top of what park caps cost. It’s all cotton with no mesh, so it runs hot in summer. It comes in one size, and there’s no kids’ size.
Sun hats
If they’ll wear it on a trail with no shade, go by what the CDC says.
Wear a hat with a circumferential brim ≥3 inches (approximately 75 mm) wide that shades the face, neck, and ears. Do not rely on standard baseball caps.
That rules out every ball cap here. Both of these have a brim all the way around, but neither store says how wide.
Best for a Grand Canyon hiker
Hike Smart Bucket Hat
T.R. McTaggart, sold by Grand Canyon Conservancy
- Style
- Nylon bucket hat with mesh vents; brim width not stated
- Design
- Round Grand Canyon Hike Smart patch on the front
- Made of
- 100% nylon, water repellent, with mesh vents and a wicking sweatband
- Fit
- Chin cord and rear draw cord; sizes M and XL only
- Sun
- UPF 50+ (seller's claim); the listing doesn't say whether that covers the mesh
- Giving
- Sold by Grand Canyon Conservancy, the park's nonprofit partner, which says purchases help protect the park
It’s the cheaper of the two sun hats, a plain grey bucket with a round Grand Canyon patch from Grand Canyon Conservancy.
Downsides
It comes in two sizes with no size chart.
Best for a hiker headed somewhere hot with no shade
Hike Smart Bucket Hat
Joshua Tree National Park Association
- Style
- Wide-brim bucket hat with a tuck-away neck cape
- Design
- Round Don't Die Today, Hike Smart patch with a bighorn sheep and the park's name (product photo)
- Made of
- 75/25 poly/nylon ripstop treated with No Fly Zone insect repellent
- Fit
- Chin cord (product photo) and a crown cord; S/M 21 5/8–22 3/4 in, L/XL 23–24 1/4 in
- Sun
- UPF 30+ (seller's claim)
- Giving
- Sold by Joshua Tree National Park Association, a nonprofit
A bighorn sheep patch from Joshua Tree’s park store, ringed with Don’t Die Today and Hike Smart. The neck flap tucks away when they don’t need it, and a chin cord keeps it on in wind. It comes in two sizes with a chart, so you can match it to a hat that fits them.
Downsides
It’s UPF 30+, below the Grand Canyon bucket’s 50+, and the store only takes returns for 10 days.
For cold weather
Best for a winter gift, if Pendleton has their park
National Park Stripe Beanie
Pendleton
- Style
- Cuffed knit beanie
- Design
- Park stripes on the turn-back cuff; seven park colorways
- Made of
- Acrylic
- Fit
- One size, pull-on
- Care
- Hand wash cold, dry flat (Pendleton says)
- Giving
- Pendleton says it supports the National Park Foundation, nearly $2.4 million so far
- Made in
- USA, of imported material (Pendleton says)
- Reviews
- 4.5 from 77 reviews on Pendleton's site
Each stripe pattern is named for a park. The stretchy knit leaves more room for a size guess than a fitted cap, though the shape still matters.
Downsides
It’s acrylic. Some buyers say the top is boxy and doesn’t sit close to the head.
The best national park beanies has more, including wool ones from park stores.
Check the return rules before you pay
You’re guessing at someone else’s head size. None of the one-size caps lists a head-size range. The sized hats make you pick between two, and Joshua Tree’s store puts its S/M at 21⅝ to 22¾ inches around and L/XL at 23 to 24¼.
Measure if you can by running a tape around the inside of a hat that fits them. Then read the return rules, because some stores start the clock when you order and others when the box arrives.
Rainier Hat Co. and Grand Canyon Conservancy give you 30 days from the day you order. Rainier Hat Co. pays the return shipping, but Grand Canyon doesn’t.
Yosemite Conservancy gives you 30 days too, but its FAQ and its refund policy don’t agree on when they start, so count from the order date. You pay to ship it back.
Glacier Conservancy gives you 30 days from the day it arrives, and you pay return shipping. Order between Nov. 1 and Dec. 31 and you get 60 days to exchange it.
Joshua Tree’s store gives you just 10 days from the purchase, and you pay to ship it back. Its policy says it won’t take back an opened item. Buy it close to the day, or measure first.
Pendleton gives you 60 days from the order or ship date, whichever is later. Mailing it back costs $9.25 and they keep the shipping you paid, but taking it to a store is free. If it was a gift, they get a gift card instead of a refund.
Whichever you buy, put the order number and the store’s name in the card.
For more designs, compare embroidered park hats. The bucket hat guide includes adult circumference measurements where published and a children’s Zion option.