Bears, elk, Cades Cove and Kuwohi appear on the hats at Smokies Life, the park’s nonprofit partner. It sells about 20 designs at the visitor centers and online, including soft cotton caps and hats with more brim coverage.
For a park with so many visitors, the choice from larger brands is smaller than you might expect. Parks Project, for example, doesn’t sell a Smokies hat.
Our picks
The souvenir$24.99
Great Smoky Mountains National Park Black Bear Hat
Smokies Life
An embroidered bear and park name on a mesh-back cap.
For the trail$24.99
Cool-Fit Great Smoky Mountains National Park Hat
Legacy · sold by Smokies Life
Dries faster than the store’s cotton caps in July.
Neck cover$24.99
Great Smoky Mountains National Park Bucket Hat
Smokies Life
The only Smokies Life hat with a flap over your neck.
For winter$29.95
Great Smoky Mountain National Park Embroidered Beanie
Parks Apparel
Warm knit with the park’s name on the cuff.
Embroidered patch$30
Great Smoky Embroidery Trucker Hat
ililily
Ridges, water and two bears across the front. Wipe-clean only.
Smokies Life caps
Smokies Life was the Great Smoky Mountains Association until it changed its name in February 2024. It says it’s given the park more than $53 million since 1953.
The hat listings say the money goes to the park’s education and science programs. For other groups that give, see our guide to park hats that give back.
Best for a souvenir cap with a bear on it
Great Smoky Mountains National Park Black Bear Hat
Smokies Life
- Style
- Trucker cap, green crown with a tan mesh back (as pictured)
- Design
- Embroidered black bear, color bands and the park name
- Made of
- 65% cotton, 35% polyester (store listing)
- Fit
- One size with an adjustable strap; no size range listed
- Giving
- Sold by Smokies Life, the park's nonprofit partner, which says merchandise proceeds fund park education and science programs
The embroidered bear and park name make this a straightforward Smokies souvenir. Its mesh back offers more airflow than the store’s solid cotton caps, useful in the park’s humid summers.
Downsides
It’s mostly cotton, so it holds sweat, and it comes in one size.
Best for town and the drive
Great Smoky Mountains National Park Legacy Bear Hat
Smokies Life
- Style
- Low, soft washed-cotton cap in navy (as pictured)
- Design
- Oval patch with a walking bear and 'Est. 1934'
- Made of
- 100% cotton (store listing)
- Fit
- One size with an adjustable strap; no size range listed
- Giving
- Sold by Smokies Life, the park's nonprofit partner, which says merchandise proceeds fund park education and science programs
The washed navy cotton and low crown give this cap a softer shape than the Black Bear trucker. The store’s Two Tone Bear Hat has a similar bear patch and adds a mesh back for the same price.
Downsides
It’s all cotton, and the park’s hiking advice says to avoid cotton on the trail.
Best for people who don't like snapbacks
Great Smoky Mountains National Park Fitted Elk Hat
Smokies Life
- Style
- Fitted cap, brown front with mesh sides and back (as pictured)
- Design
- Raised embroidered park name, 'Est. 1934' and an elk
- Made of
- 100% polyester (store listing)
- Fit
- Fitted: M for hat sizes 7 to 7¼, L for 7¼ to 7½
- Giving
- Sold by Smokies Life, the park's nonprofit partner, which says merchandise proceeds fund park education and science programs
The fitted Elk hat is a useful alternative if you prefer a closed back to an adjustable strap. Its elk refers to Cataloochee Valley, where the Park Service brought elk back in 2001. PNW Apparel’s fitted Smokies cap costs $39.99 and covers a wider size range, 6¾ to 7⅝.
Downsides
The two sizes cover 7 to 7½, with no strap for further adjustment.
In summer, get a cap that dries
Forest covers 96% of the park, so on most trails you’re in shade. NPS calls summer hot, hazy and humid, with afternoon storms, and its hiking safety page says to wear light, breathable clothing.
In that humidity, a fabric that dries more quickly is useful. The Cool Fit cap’s polyester is a better choice for that than the store’s cotton caps.
Sun still matters at overlooks, on balds like Andrews Bald and on the Kuwohi tower, where a ball cap won’t cover your ears or neck.
Best for summer day hikes
Cool-Fit Great Smoky Mountains National Park Hat
Legacy, sold by Smokies Life
- Style
- Unstructured, low-profile cap (per Legacy distributor listings)
- Design
- Oval patch with a walking bear and '19 34'
- Made of
- Lightweight, moisture-wicking recycled polyester (listing and photo tag)
- Fit
- Hook-and-loop strap; distributors list hat sizes 6⅝ to 7⅜
- Sun
- UPF 50+ (seller's claim); a standard cap brim, no neck or ear coverage
- Giving
- Sold by Smokies Life, the park's nonprofit partner, which says merchandise proceeds fund park education and science programs
This is the Smokies Life cap to hike in, because it dries faster in July humidity than the store’s cotton caps. It’s made on a Legacy Cool Fit blank, with a soft, low crown and a velcro strap.
Downsides
It’s still a ball cap, so your ears and neck are in the sun. It tops out at 7⅜, so skip it if regular caps feel snug.
Best for open balds and overlooks
Great Smoky Mountains National Park Bucket Hat
Smokies Life
- Style
- Nylon bucket hat with a detachable mesh flap over the neck; brim width not stated
- Design
- Small diamond patch with a bear
- Made of
- 100% nylon; polyester mesh flap (store listing)
- Fit
- Adjustable strap; no sizes listed
- Sun
- None claimed for the hat or the flap
- Giving
- Sold by Smokies Life, the park's nonprofit partner, which says merchandise proceeds fund park education and science programs
No other Smokies Life hat has a neck flap. The mesh flap hangs down the back and sides, and it comes off once you’re back in the trees. Nylon and mesh both dry faster than cotton.
Downsides
The mesh flap lets some sun through.
The store’s Cool Fit Boonie Hat has a brim all the way around and a chin cord, for $29.99. On an open bald we’d still take the bucket hat, because it has the flap and the boonie is half cotton.
Up high, skip cotton
On Kuwohi it rains about every other day in July, and the high is only 65°F. The top is 10 to 20 degrees colder than the base. Fall is drier, especially September to mid-November.
The park warns that cool, wet, windy weather can bring on hypothermia even in summer.
To prevent it, put on rain gear before you get wet. Choose moisture-wicking clothing and avoid cotton, which retains water.
So on a wet day on Le Conte or Kuwohi, leave the cotton caps in the car. Wear the polyester Cool Fit cap or the nylon bucket hat under your jacket hood, since both dry faster than cotton.
From November to March, a beanie
It’s normal here to have snow up high while Gatlinburg stays mild. Gatlinburg’s January high is around 51°F, but on Kuwohi it’s 35°F, and lows can hit -20°F.
Snow sits on the ground up there most of the winter. Kuwohi Road is closed to cars from late November to April 1, so you can’t drive to the summit anyway.
Smokies Life doesn’t sell an adult beanie with the park’s name, and its only knit hat is the $16 Junior Ranger Woodland Beanie. It’s a kids’ pom-pom hat with a bear, a rabbit and a squirrel on it, though the listing says it fits most adults too.
Pendleton makes its park-stripe beanie for seven parks, but the Smokies isn’t one of them. Parks Apparel does make one with the name on it.
Best for cold days, with the park's name on it
Great Smoky Mountain National Park Embroidered Beanie
Parks Apparel
- Style
- Cuffed rib-knit beanie in navy, dark green or gray
- Design
- Embroidered park name and pine trees on the cuff
- Made of
- 100% acrylic (listing)
- Fit
- One size, snug, with a turn-back cuff
- Care
- Hand wash, lay flat to dry (listing)
- Giving
- Parks Apparel says it gives 1% of sales to the National Park Foundation
The embroidered park name on the cuff makes this a simple Smokies beanie. Parks Apparel says it gives 1% of sales to the National Park Foundation.
Downsides
It’s acrylic. NPS suggests wool because it stays warm when wet, so pack a wool hat too for a wet day up high. Shipping takes 5 to 7 business days, so order a couple of weeks ahead.
For beanies from other parks, see our guide to national park beanies, and for caps, see the best national park hats.
For an embroidered patch
Best for ridges and bears on an embroidered patch
Great Smoky Embroidery Trucker Hat
ililily
- Style
- Structured trucker with a mesh back and a pre-distressed brim, 2.75 in
- Design
- Large embroidered landscape patch across the front (sun, ridges, water, pines, two bears)
- Made of
- 60% cotton, 40% polyester (listing)
- Fit
- Snapback; one size, listed as about 58 cm (7¼) inside
- Care
- Do not wash; wipe with a damp cloth (listing)
- Giving
- None stated
Most Smokies caps have a logo or a small badge. This one has a big embroidered patch across the front, with a low sun, blue ridges, water, pines and two bears walking the shore. The words Great Smoky are embroidered across the back mesh too.
Downsides
The care label says never wash it, only wipe it with a damp cloth. It comes in one size.
If you want a landscape for less, Smokies Life’s Fall Colors Sublimation Hat has a sublimated fall ridge across a polyester trucker, for $21.99.
Other Smokies caps for about $30
Best for a Pendleton trucker with a log cabin patch
National Park Trucker Hat, Smoky Mountains
Pendleton
- Style
- Trucker cap, brown front with brown mesh sides and back (as pictured)
- Design
- Octagonal park patch with a log cabin in fall color
- Made of
- Cotton/polyester (listing; no split given)
- Fit
- One size, snapback; no size range listed
- Care
- Spot clean (listing)
- Giving
- Pendleton says it supports the National Park Foundation, nearly $2.4 million so far
Pendleton’s current park trucker skips the Smokies, but an older listing under the same name still has this brown version for $29.50. Its octagonal patch shows a log cabin in fall color. Pendleton says it has given nearly $2.4 million to the National Park Foundation.
Several web shops put a Smokies patch on a standard snapback for about $30. Squatchy’s has a sunset ridgeline, a bear and the year 1934, for $29. The National Park Store’s is a Yupoong snapback for $29.99, from a private shop despite the name.
The Lone Bison’s is $29.99, with a patch its owners drew on a trip through all 63 national parks. Squatchy and The National Park Store fit up to 7⅝. Each costs about $5 more than a Smokies Life cap, and none says any of the money goes to the park.
Watch the spelling. Smokey Bear hats, with an e, are about the Forest Service’s fire-prevention bear and have nothing to do with this park. The Landmark Project sells licensed Smokey Bear caps for $36 to $42.
Buying in the park
Smokies Life runs the stores at the visitor centers. Sugarlands, 2 miles south of Gatlinburg, and Oconaluftee, 1.5 miles north of Cherokee, are both open every day but Christmas. The Kuwohi store sits at 6,300 feet and opens April through November.
If you want a particular hat, order from the webstore, which ships only within the US. You’ve got 30 days to ask about a return, and the store decides each one.
Compare the Smokies Life neck-flap hat with other parks’ designs in national park bucket hats.