The appeal of a Rainier Hat Co. cap is the particular view: Myrtle Falls below the summit, Ruby Beach at sunset, Half Dome from the Merced River. The embroidery continues onto the sides, leaving room for details that a small patch can’t hold. Fit deserves a close look, especially if you usually wear a small cap.
One cap, a different park on each
Rainier Hat Co. is a small Seattle company that has sold embroidered park caps on Etsy and its own site since 2024.
Every hat is built on the same cap, a stiff five-panel snapback with a heather gray cotton crown. The design is panoramic embroidery with no patch, and since the front panel has no center seam, it runs across the front and onto both sides.
Rainier Hat Co. says each design uses 15 thread colors and more than 60,000 stitches. How to judge a park hat covers how embroidery holds up compared with a patch.
The brim and top button are colored to match the design, and there’s no logo on the front, just a small woven tag at the back. Rainier Hat Co. says every design shows a real spot you can stand at, and each hat comes with a QR code that opens that spot in Google Maps.
The caps are designed in Seattle and ship from there. Spot clean one with a damp cloth, or if it needs more than that, hand wash it and let it air dry.
The spot on each hat
Rainier Hat Co. sells 18 designs for 17 parks, with two for Zion, one at Angels Landing and one in the Narrows. The Mt. Rainier hat also comes as a trucker.
Mt. Rainier National Park Hat
Olympic National Park Hat
North Cascades National Park Hat
Glacier National Park Hat
Yellowstone National Park Hat
Grand Teton National Park Hat
Rocky Mountain National Park Hat
Zion National Park Hat, Angels Landing
Zion National Park Hat, The Narrows
Arches National Park Hat
Grand Canyon National Park Hat
Saguaro National Park Hat
Joshua Tree National Park Hat
Big Bend National Park Hat
Denali National Park Hat
Acadia National Park Hat
Everglades National Park Hat
Yosemite National Park Hat
- Mt. Rainier: Myrtle Falls under the summit
- Olympic: Ruby Beach at sunset
- North Cascades: Mt. Shuksan over Picture Lake
- Glacier: Wild Goose Island
- Yellowstone: Grand Prismatic Spring
- Grand Teton: the T.A. Moulton Barn on Mormon Row
- Rocky Mountain: Dream Lake under Hallett Peak
- Zion: the top of Angels Landing, or wading the Narrows
- Arches: Delicate Arch
- Grand Canyon: Yaki Point
- Saguaro: Signal Hill
- Joshua Tree: Skull Rock
- Big Bend: Santa Elena Canyon
- Denali: Stony Hill
- Acadia: Bass Harbor Head Lighthouse
- Everglades: the Anhinga Trail
- Yosemite: Half Dome over Housekeeping Beach
Every design has an animal in it. Glacier has a grizzly, Ruby Beach has orcas, and Yosemite has a bear with two cubs.
Most designs have only a few reviews on Rainier Hat Co.’s site and some have none, though Mt. Rainier has the most. Since the cotton caps share a shape, those fit comments can help when choosing another design.
The Mt. Rainier hat, with or without mesh
Best for Anyone who's been to Myrtle Falls
Mt. Rainier National Park Hat
Rainier Hat Co.
- Style
- Structured mid-profile 5-panel snapback
- Design
- Panoramic embroidery of Myrtle Falls below Mount Rainier across the front and sides
- Made of
- 100% cotton, heather gray crown
- Fit
- Plastic snapback; one size
- Care
- Hand wash only
- Giving
- Rainier Hat Co. says it donates 100% of profits to national park nonprofits
- Reviews
- 4.8 from 27 reviews on Rainier Hat Co.'s site
It shows Myrtle Falls under the summit, with lupine in front and a bald eagle overhead. An older version had a blue camper van in it, so a review that mentions one is about the old hat.
Downsides
At $44.99 it’s near the top of what park caps cost, and since it’s all cotton with no mesh, it runs hot. It’s hand wash only, and the back of the embroidery isn’t lined.
Best for Warm days
Mt. Rainier National Park Hat, Trucker
Rainier Hat Co.
- Style
- Structured mid-profile 5-panel trucker with a mesh back
- Design
- Panoramic embroidery of Myrtle Falls below Mount Rainier across the front and sides
- Made of
- Cotton front panel; light gray mesh sides and back
- Fit
- Plastic snapback; one size
- Care
- Hand wash only
- Giving
- Rainier Hat Co. says it donates 100% of profits to national park nonprofits
It’s the same design, with the side and back panels swapped for light gray mesh so heat can get out. It’s on the same product page as the regular hat, so pick Trucker under Style.
One size, and it runs big
A few reviews say it runs big, with one buyer wearing it on the smallest snap and another saying it pushed their ears down. Rainier Hat Co. doesn’t say what head sizes it fits, so a cap with a published size range is an easier choice if you wear a small fitted size.
Some buyers said the cap looks like a trucker even without the mesh. Its tall front panel stands up straight, a different fit from a soft dad cap. Our guide to hat styles shows the difference.
Where to buy
Rainier Hat Co.’s own store sells every design for $44.99 with free US shipping, and its Etsy shop has the same price and free shipping. Rainier Hat Co. says orders ship by USPS from Seattle within a day or two and arrive in five to seven days. Returns are free for 30 days if the hat is unused.
Two park nonprofits sell Rainier Hat Co.’s hats too. Grand Canyon Conservancy sells the Yaki Point design as the Grand Canyon Embroidered Panoramic Hat for $45.
Canyonlands Natural History Association, which runs the park stores at Arches and Canyonlands, sells the Arches design and a Canyonlands design for $46.99 each. The Canyonlands hat isn’t on Rainier Hat Co.’s own store, so buy it from CNHA.
The park stores charge about the same, and their cut goes to the park. CNHA says it has put more than $30 million into education and science programs in its parks since 1967. If you buy from Grand Canyon Conservancy, you pay return shipping.
Before you buy
Where the money goes
Rainier Hat Co. says it donates 100% of its profits to the National Park Foundation and the National Parks Conservation Association, on every cap it sells. Our guide to hats that give back has the other brands that give.
Reviews
Rainier Hat Co.’s site shows 4.9 stars from 110 reviews, and Etsy shows 5.0 from 41.
Buyers mostly praise the build and the embroidery, and Glacier and Rocky Mountain buyers say the embroidery matches photos they took from the same spot. A lot of buyers got it as a gift, and if that’s your plan, buying a park hat as a gift covers size guesses and return windows.
Cheaper caps at Yosemite
Yosemite Conservancy, the park’s nonprofit store, sells a Half Dome cap and a Glacier Point cap for a lot less than Rainier Hat Co.’s.
Half Dome Patch HatYosemite Conservancy · $24.99
Glacier Point View HatYosemite Conservancy · $34- Yosemite National Park HatRainier Hat Co. · $44.99
The Glacier Point cap is made in the US from recycled bottles. You pay $11 to $20 more for Rainier Hat Co.’s to get panoramic embroidery instead of a patch.
What Rainier Hat Co. doesn’t make
Rainier Hat Co. makes one shape, a ball cap, so nothing it sells has a wide brim, a neck cape or a sun rating. The CDC says a ball cap isn’t enough for sun and wants a brim at least 3 inches wide all the way around. For a hike in the sun, buy a sun hat from another brand, and our Grand Canyon hiking hat guide has park sun hats.
There are no beanies, bucket hats or kids’ sizes either. For beanies, our beanie guide covers Pendleton, Parks Project and the park nonprofit stores.
Rainier Hat Co. makes caps for 17 parks so far. Its site says more are coming, including Great Smoky Mountains, Crater Lake and Death Valley, but it doesn’t give dates. For the Smokies, the most visited national park, our Smokies page covers what you can buy now.