The National Park Service (NPS) was founded on August 25, 1916, when President Woodrow Wilson signed the National Park Service Act. Typically, the best way to celebrate America’s Best Idea is to get outdoors and explore any of the 63 national parks in the United States.
In addition to visiting a park IRL during National Park Week (April 16–24, 2022), you can also wear your park pride proudly and support the NPS at the same time by buying national parks merchandise from any of these companies.
Not only do most of these businesses make their national parks T-shirts, home supplies, and posters using sustainable methods, but they also all donate portions of their profits to the National Park Foundation or various other conservancy projects.
Load up your shopping cart—you’re helping a good cause.
The Rumpl Yellowstone blanket features the hot springs for which the park is famous.
Photo by torylynnnnn
1. Rumpl National Park Blankets
Shop the full Rumpl national park collection here.
Rumpl’s national park-inspired blankets celebrate some of the most popular NPS sites, including Glacier and Great Smoky Mountains (each $129). Made with lightweight and recycled materials, Rumpl’s Original Puffy Blanket is ideal for road trips and camping excursions but also cozy enough to snuggle up with on your couch at home. Rumpl donates 1 percent of all its revenue to environmental nonprofits like the National Park Foundation. In 2021, Rumpl officially announced its B-Corp status, which means it has completed a rigorous certification process and meets the highest standards of verified social and environmental performance, public transparency, and legal accountability.
Remember the scent of your favorite national park, even when you’re not there.
Courtesy of Good & Well Supply Co.
2. Good & Well Supply Co.
Shop the full Good & Well Supply Co. collection here.
Before Megan McLaughlin founded Good & Well Supply Co. in the Pacific Northwest, she spent time traveling from national park to national park throughout the United States and living in her tent. The scents she encountered on her trip inspired her national park candle collection (from $26), which are all made with natural soy wax and U.S.-grown balsa wood wicks and packaged in 100 percent recyclable tins. Scents include Olympic (red cedar and oakmoss), Saguaro (cactus, desert florals, and amber), and Great Smokies (red maple, laurel, and sandalwood).
She’s since expanded her shop to also include national parks–inspired enamel pins ($10), car fresheners ($10), and incense cones ($25). Even better? On behalf of her company, McLaughlin makes annual donations to the National Park Foundation, Washington’s National Park Fund, and Black Outside, Inc.
Fast-drying Nomadix towels are made from postconsumer recycled plastic bottles.
Courtesy of Nomadix
3. Nomadix National Park Towels
Shop the full Nomadix national park collection here.
Made from postconsumer recycled plastic bottles, Nomadix travel towels ($45) are fast drying and pack down small, making them great for the beach, camping, or even yoga. You can choose from designs featuring illustrated scenes of Yosemite or Everglades National Park, as well as ones inspired by vintage pennants to show your pride for the Great Smoky Mountains and Glacier National Park. A portion of each sale from this collection is donated to the Conservation Alliance.
A sample of some of the previous collections Parks Project has released over the years.
Courtesy of Parks Project
4. Parks Project
Shop the full Parks Project collection here.
Parks Project works directly with nearly 50 park conservancies to raise money for various projects throughout U.S. parklands. That means when you pick up a T-shirt (from $36), not only will you be super comfy at home, but a portion of your money will also go back to supporting our national parks. To date, it has given more than $2 million to U.S. parklands.
Some items raise money for even more specific projects. For example, the Yellowstone 150th anniversary bandana ($18) supports the Yellowstone Forever Cougar Project, and this reusable water bottle ($25) raises money for the National Parks Conservation Association.
The Method x Fifty-Nine Parks soap collection includes scents inspired by the Grand Canyon, Mount Rainier, and more.
Courtesy of Method
5. Method x Fifty-Nine Parks hand soap collection
Shop the full Method x Fifty-Nine Parks collection here.
Method, the plant-based cleaning supply company, partnered with the Fifty-Nine Parks Print Series to launch a limited-edition hand soap collection with scents inspired by five national parks. Each bottle also features national park poster artwork from the Fifty-Nine Parks collection. The hand soaps are available in the following scents: Alpine Meadow (meadow grass and wildflowers representing Mount Rainier National Park), Paradise Reef (tropical fruit scent representing Dry Tortugas National Park), Desert Citrus (orange and grapefruit representing Grand Canyon National Park), Woodlands (fresh pine and cedarwood representing Sequoia National Park), and Harbor Cove (salty ocean air representing Acadia National Park).
The hand soaps are available on Method’s website, as well as at Target and Grove Collaborative. While proceeds from each soap sale don’t directly go to park funds, Method is one of several partners contributing to the ParksVentures grant initiative that the National Park Foundation is investing $1.1 million in during 2022.
Add your favorite park to your gallery wall at home.
Courtesy of National Park Posters
6. National Park Posters
Shop the full National Park Posters collection here.
In the 1930s and 1940s, the WPA commissioned a series of national park posters to encourage the public to explore U.S. parklands. Inspired by the iconic designs, photographer Rob Decker is building a collection of national park posters ($40) created in a similar style using shots he’s captured as he travels to each of the national parks. Printed on recycled stock with soy-based inks, his most popular posters include prints from Yellowstone, Yosemite, and Grand Teton. Decker donates 10 percent of his annual profits to various conservancies and organizations that support the U.S. national park system.
If you’re looking for reproductions of the original WPA designs, Ranger Doug’s Enterprises sells silkscreen serigraph posters ($45) and also donates 1 percent of gross sales back to various national park projects.
Wear your national park pride on your sleeve . . . or your feet.
Courtesy of Pendleton
7. Pendleton National Park Collection
Shop the Pendleton national park collection here.
For every item Pendleton sells from its national park collection, the National Park Foundation receives a royalty. (So far, Pendleton has raised more than $1.6 million for the organization.) The collection began back in the early 1900s with the iconic green, yellow, red, and black striped Glacier National Park blanket (from $239). While Pendleton still makes its blankets in the United States from pure wool, it has expanded its collection to offer beanies ($25), mugs ($20), and dog beds (from $99) for a wide variety of parks, including Crater Lake, Yosemite, and Yellowstone, to name a few.
8. Ursa Major National Park Soaps
Buy now: $38 (was $42) for three soaps, ursamajorvt.com
A certified B-Corp, Ursa Major released a bar soap collection inspired by the scents of three national parks and is donating 5 percent of each purchase to the National Parks Conservation Association. Inspired by coastal Maine, the Acadia bar soap includes scotch pine and rock rose essential oil blends. The Zion soap is scented with sage and sabino cedar. And if you feel like taking forest bathing very literally, Redwood’s notes of juniper and fir needle will do the trick. The five-ounce soap bars are sold individually ($14) or as a set of three ($38, was $42).
9. ENO NPF DoubleNest Print Hammock
Buy now: $85, eaglesnestoutfitters.com
The maker of one of AFAR’s favorite beach blankets, Asheville-based Eagles Nest Outfitters (ENO) is mostly known for its travel hammocks that weigh just over a pound and stuff down into an included sack. Its NPF DoubleNest Print Hammock ($85) fits two and features illustrations of Saguaro National Park, Carlsbad Caverns, and other parks. A royalty from each sale goes to the National Park Foundation. But that’s not all: ENO also plants two trees for every hammock sold and gives 1 percent of its annual sales to nonprofit environmental organizations as a member of the 1% for the Planet group.
This article originally appeared online in August 2018; it was updated in April 2021, and again on April 14, 2022, to include current information.
