Zion - The NarrowsNational Park Hat
Details
- Embroidered panoramic design
- Adjustable snapback hat
- Structured mid-profile 5 panel
- Cotton, handwash
- Free shipping, free returns
- 100% of profits donated to National Parks
What Our Customers Say
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Our Mission
I'm Ian - from Seattle, and at Rainier Hat Co. we're dedicated to giving back to the places that inspire us every day. From the glaciers of Mount Rainier to the grand prismatic springs of Yellowstone, our national parks are treasures that deserve our support.
That's why we've made a commitment that goes beyond the norm: donating all our profits to these natural sanctuaries. It's not just about creating high-quality (and awesome) hats inspired by the beauty of the outdoors, it's about contributing to the preservation of these areas for future generations to enjoy.
Design Inspiration
This design was inspired by a late morning in The Narrows, where the North Fork Virgin River moves cold and clear around your ankles as you wade upstream through the canyon. The Navajo Sandstone walls rise several hundred feet on either side, their layered surfaces holding a record of ancient desert dunes compressed over millions of years into cross bedded stone. On the sunlit far wall, warm reds and oranges glow against the cool shadowed faces across from it, a contrast that shifts throughout the day as the sun tracks a narrow path of sky overhead.
Mosses and hanging gardens cling to seep lines where water migrates through the rock and emerges along the wall face, and box elders take root in cracks wherever sediment collects. A gray fox works its way along the water's edge, pausing to drink before moving back into the shadows. The canyon floor is uneven with smooth river cobbles underfoot and deeper pools where the current slows, and the sound of moving water fills the enclosed space with a low constant resonance.
Design Process
Creating these National Park hats with their panoramic embroidery is a detailed process going beyond simply buying and reselling bulk designs.
The first step is a deep dive into what makes each park unique. From the Bison of Yellowstone and the Roseated Spoonbills of the Everglades to the panoramic views of Angels Landing in Zion, our goal is to highlight the beauty of each park. We try to find a specific viewpoint in the park to show off and what we need to do to capture the feeling of being there. While sometimes we ad-lib a bit of the design to include other elements to capture the feeling of the park as a whole, we try hard to find an actual place in the park you can visit even giving you an exact Google maps QR code with every hat.
Then we get to designing! Embroidery is naturally limited in colors and we use a 15 color (the most you'll find) edgeless embroidery process which takes upwards of 90 minutes and over 60,000 stitches per hat, but allows us to show off every detail from that epic mountain range to the colorful flowers in your favorite park.
Finally the design get digitized for embroidery, a sample is made for any final tweaks, and we go to production getting these fantastic hats on your heads.
And 100% of our profits are donated right back to our National Parks .
Visit the Inspiration
The Narrows is one of the most accessible slot canyon hikes in the American Southwest and it starts right at the end of the Riverside Walk trail in Zion National Park. From the town of Springdale, Utah, you can ride the free park shuttle to the Temple of Sinawava stop and follow the paved trail about a mile upstream to where the canyon walls close in and the river becomes the trail.
From there, you wade into the North Fork Virgin River and follow the water upstream as far as you like. Most visitors turn around at Wall Street, roughly 2 miles in, where the canyon narrows to its most dramatic width and the walls rise several hundred feet above the river.
The hike is best attempted from late spring through early fall when water levels are manageable, though flash flood risk is always a consideration in slot canyons. Check the park's flood forecast before heading out and be prepared to turn back if conditions change.
Waterproof boots or neoprene socks make a significant difference since you spend the majority of the hike moving through ankle to knee deep water. Rental canyoneering gear including drysuits for cold water conditions is available from outfitters in Springdale if you're visiting outside of summer.
No permit is required to hike the bottom up route from the Riverside Walk, making it one of the most visited sections of the park. Arriving early in the morning helps you avoid crowds and gives you the best light on the canyon walls.
Zion: The Narrows
Wade through the Virgin River as canyon walls narrow around you and the sky becomes a thin ribbon of light above.
Read the Guide