Curated Etsy Gifts for Outdoor Lovers (and Do-It-Yourself Handmade Presents, too!)
Handmade Art, Ornaments, Stickers, and Keepsakes for People Who Love the Outdoors
November 27th, 2023
Every year around the holidays, my family asks me, “Is there anything outdoor-related you would like as a gift?”
When it comes to outdoor gear, I probably either have it or the specialized gear I want is out of most people’s budgets. What’s worse, though, is when I open a gear present and know immediately that I’ll probably never use it.
Rather than waste everyone’s time, money, and emotional energy, I recommend gifting your outdoorsy friends a special “trail memento.” Maps, mugs, ornaments, and signs for a home or office are a much better way to celebrate your loved one’s passion for hiking and the outdoors.
This year, I found some of the best outdoor-related keepsakes on Etsy. Best yet--purchasing from Etsy allows hiker-artisans to turn their love of the trail into an artful career. There’s also a handful of thoughtful ideas for Do-It-Yourself gifts below that your outdoors loved ones would appreciate.
Here are some of my top picks to gift to hikers this holiday season.
Looking for more Gift Ideas? See our Best Gifts for Hikers and Best Gifts for Backpackers.
We participate in affiliate programs and may receive a commission on qualifying purchases.
the best Etsy Gifts for hikers and backpackers
Replica Trail Signs
etsy shop: Trail Signs
I met Phillip, the creator and owner of the Trail Signs Etsy store, at the Appalachian Trail Days event in Damascus, Virginia in 2017. His full-size replica of the Mount Katahdin summit sign stood out even at an event that attracts 30,000 people and countless merchants.
I had a hard time telling Phillip’s signs apart from the real thing on top of the northern terminus of the Appalachian Trail. A month later, I was the proud owner of one of these replicas.
A to-scale replica trail sign of the Northern Terminus of the Appalachian Trail. The real sign is atop Mt. Katahdin in Maine. Photo by Whitney LaRuffa
With a variety of stock trail signs and markers, Phillip can also recreate any trail sign you like--from Mt. Washington to the 100 Mile Wilderness Warning Sign to a hand-carved PCT sign.
There are replica signs welcoming you to the Zion National Park or Colorful Colorado. With painstaking detail, you’ll have folks asking how you were able to buy a sign from the United States Forest Service. He even offers mini versions as ornaments
Let’s all do our part to keep trail signs where they belong for others—out on our trails. Instead of pinching one while you’re out on a hike, order a replica for your wall—or for the wall of your hiking buddies.
2. Map watercolors
ETSY Shop: HikerBooty
I was walking around Bend, Oregon two years ago at a street fair when I stopped into an artist’s booth to check out some of her map-inspired watercolors and prints.
I noticed right away that her Continental Divide Trail map was the one I had been admiring on Etsy for some time. After 30 minutes of chatting with a hiker-artisan named “Rebel Biscuit,” I walked away with an Appalachian Trail and a Continental Divide Trail print for my home office. She released an Oregon Desert Trail map, which I have also added to my collection.
A whimsical artistic Appalachian Trail map featuring landmarks and trail memories like favorite shelters and bears. HikerBooty makes similar maps for the Pacific Crest Trail, Continental Divide Trail, Oregon Desert Trail, Arizona Trail, and more. Photo by Whitney LaRuffa.
The Etsy shop also has prints of Pacific Crest Trail and Arizona Trail and Colorado Trail, as well as maps of the Oregon Coast, Central Oregon Bike Trails, and Portland Bridges. There’s also maps of Central Oregon, Smith Rocks, Waterfalls, and the Cascade Lakes Highway, and Cascade Mountain Range. Check out this shop for some incredible art (and stickers) of your favorite trails, outdoorsy cities, mountain ranges, and plants.
A Clay Mason Studio trail mug can be inscribed with a name. Here, it shows the name “Allgood,” the author’s trail name (a nickname that long distance hikers use). Photo by Whitney LaRuffa.
3. outdoor-Themed Handcrafted Mugs
ETSY Shop: Clay Mason Studio
Maybe my most cherished piece of Etsy trail art is my custom handmade coffee mug by Amy, a.k.a. “Honey Badger,” a PCT alumnus and a very talented potter.
I contacted Honey Badger after I hiked the Oregon Desert Trail. At the time, there were no real ODT-themed keepsakes that I could buy.
Related: Thru-hiking and Backpacking Guide to the Oregon Desert Trail
After some back and forth, we worked out an order for four custom-made mugs for me, my two hiking partners, and our trail support person, whose trail name is “Falling Waters.” The finished product was outstanding!
A trail-themed custom ceramic mug showing the trail emblem of the Oregon Desert Trail.
What I like about Clay Mason Studio trail mugs is that besides multiple trails to choose from, you can also customize the glaze color. For a few more dollars, you can have a trail name added to the backside of the mug. Adding a trail name to any item makes it a failsafe keepsake for the hiker in your life.
Nothing brings me more joy each morning than having a hot cup of coffee and dreaming of the long days spent among the sagebrush of the Oregon desert. Your favorite hiker will enjoy being reminded of their favorite place each morning as they drink from their trail-themed mug.
Update: After Whitney wrote this guide for Treeline Review, our editors got Clay Mason mugs for themselves! We love the thin lip, artistic shape, and high volume of this mug—and the trail name and custom logo only makes it better.
Clay Mason studio can make a mug for the:
Pacific Northwest Trail
Ice Age Trail
Te Araroa
Florida Trail
The whole Triple Crown: Appalachian Trail, Pacific Crest, and Continental Divide
Oregon Desert Trail
Pinhoti Trail
A Trail Marker ornament can spice up your holiday decorations and will be treasured for years. They’re also available as magnets for year-round use. Photo by Whitney LaRuffa.
4. 3D Printed Trail Magnets and Ornaments:
RaiForge
My wife surprised me one year with a beautiful Appalachian Trail-themed copper ornament for our Christmas tree. I loved it and I always wanted another one for the Continental Divide Trail. One day, I discovered RaiForge. Will, who owns this shop, is also a PCT alumnus; he now 3D prints custom trail-themed ornaments.
My ornament is a perfect scale model of a real CDT trail marker. It hangs prominently on our tree during the holiday season and is a gift that is much loved year after year. Not only does it look good, but it’s affordable. At just $9, it’s a great gift or stocking stuffer for that special hiker in your life.
RaiForge also makes ornaments of the Pacific Crest Trail, Pacific Northwest Trail, and Colorado Trail--and all ornaments are also available as magnets. It’s a perfect inexpensive gift for a friend who loves to talk about the trail.
5. Laser-Burned Wood Maps:
WeILDTENDENCIES
The first time I met the crew from WeILD Tendencies (formerly called Amber Lodge) was at an American Long Distance Hiking Association-West event in Idaho. Their laser-burned maps were so cool that I wound up with a Continental Divide Trail map for my home office. (Yes, my home office doubles as a trail museum.)
I loved the look of their products so much that I got ALDHA-West to use them to make the Triple Crown awards each year (a plaque given to hikers who have completed the Appalachian Trail, Pacific Crest Trail, and Continental Divide Trail).
Whatever trail you are looking for, they can make you a laser-engraved wooden map in any size you like—from a key chain to full-size wall display.
Maps are available for many major trails including the AT, PCT, CDT, Colorado Trail, and John Muir Trail.
You can also find engraved maps for more obscure trails like the Wonderland Trail and Oregon Coast Trail
They also engrave maps of places like Lake Tahoe, Puget Sound, the Enchantments, the Hawaiian Islands, and Yellowstone, and Rocky Mountain National Park.
They also do custom work, ornaments, and keychains, so there’s a beautiful rustic art for every outdoor lover’s cabin, van, or office.
6. Appalachian Trail Section Hiker or Peak Bagger’s Bucket List Board
If you’ve got a loved one who is a section hiker or attempting to climb all the mountains in a state or visit all the parks, chances are they’re thinking about it constantly. Section hikers can’t wait to get back on the trail to hike the next piece of their long trail. Now, they can get the satisfaction of filling in each section of their thru-hike as they hike it or filling in each park as they visit it.
The Section Hiker Bucket List Board comes with 21 wooden puzzle pieces to help you keep track of what sections of the trail you’ve hiked. Each piece of the map has the mileage covered so you can keep track of your total mileage.
It’s a great conversation piece to hang in your house. You have the option of maple, oak, or cherry finish and custom adding your trail name to the board.
Bucket list boards are available for:
Washington Peak Bagging or Washington 100 Bulgers (the highest peaks in the PNW)
And for those in your circle more interested in visiting all the MLB Stadiums and NFL Stadiums, there’s a bucket list board for that, too!
Outdoor-themed stickers can show who you are to the world on vehicles, cargo racks, water bottles, laptops, and more. Here, the author shows off his style with stickers. Photo by Whitney LaRuffa.
outdoor Stickers
Let’s face it. Outdoors people love stickers. Whether we like to plaster them on a water bottle or all over our car, stickers are a fun and cheap way to show who you are to the world. Over the years, I have amassed a serious sticker collection—from trails to trail organization logos to a variety of small ultra-light brands.
Stickers are such an important outdoor lover’s gift that we created an entire section below dedicated solely to them. Some of the best stickers I have found are from the following Etsy shops.
1. etsy shop: LadyDoodle Denise
These are very high-quality stickers with a great variety of trails and outdoor themes. LadyDoodle stocks everything from a depiction of the Continental Divide Trail Southern Terminus to the applicable-to-every-trail saying, “Hiker to Town”
Do It Yourself (DIY) Gifts For Hikers
Let’s face it: outdoors people aren’t always the people with the most money in the world. But that doesn’t mean you can’t make a much-appreciated gift for your fellow hiker friends. Here’s some of our favorite DIY gifts for and by hikers.
Package homemade dehydrated/freeze-dried meals in Mason Jars or vacuum-sealed for a longer shelf-life. Photo by Melissa Spencer.
1. Make Your Own Dehydrated Trail Food
Dehydrated camping food can be a great and inexpensive gift—especially if you have a garden or fruit trees that are prolific.
Dehydrating or mixing your own backcountry meals can be a fun gift to make in bulk for several friends (and if there are any extras, you can use them on your own camping trips!).
Most outdoors people like to have variety, so offer up a week’s worth of different dinners, breakfasts, or snacks.
Many people find that they crave more salt and spices when backpacking, so don’t be afraid to make your meals flavorful.
Pack it up in a decorated mason jar or give it a longer shelf life by using a vacuum sealer.
See our guide to The Best Food Dehydrator for Making Your Own Food for Backpacking for ideas of recipes, temperature recommendations, and other dehydration tips.
We also recommend mixing recipes from Backcountry Foodie, which usually don’t require a dehydrator.
These trail-tested recipes allow you to make your own backpacking meals from bulk ingredients like coconut milk powder, cream cheese powder, and freeze dried zucchini. Simply mix it with locally available cous cous, ramen, or mashed potatoes and some spices, and you’ve got a great gift!
A photobook allows you to remember fond memories together. This is a screenshot of the view from the backend of a bookmaking template for a photobook that we made earlier this year to remember a sea kayaking trip. Photo by Liz Thomas
2. Photo Book Of A Trip You Took Together
A photo book can be a great way to reminiscence about past memories and outdoor trips you’ve done with others.
Photobooks are great because they can be put together easily from your computer. Some services, like Shutterfly, will ship right to your loved one’s home. Walmart also ships and you have the option to send the photobook file to almost any Walmart store for pickup. This can be handy if you don’t quite have time for shipping.
Photo books come with templates, fonts, and examples—so you don’t need to be a Photoshop whiz or know anything about photo editing to create a high-quality and affordable book that they will treasure.
Everything you need to make a DIY camping pot koozie. Photo by Kate Hoch
3. Do-It-Yourself Camping Pot Koozie
You can easily make a koozie for your backpacking pot or mug to keep your meal or beverage warmer longer for very cheap or free with type reflective coated bubble wrap insulation.
Reflectix is a name brand for this insulation and comes in large rolls for insulating attics, crawl spaces, etc, and can be found in hardware stores, but is pricey.
A similar material is often used for shipping temperature sensitive items like meal kits.
I asked around my local Buy Nothing group and was offered a bunch of this type of reflective bubble shipping envelopes. What I got was thinner than Reflectix and only had the reflective coating on one side, so I doubled up and used two layers to make my koozie.
To make your own, wrap the insulation around the circumference of your pot and mark the length needed to encircle it as well as the height of the pot. Cut out this rectangle and use tape (I used clear packing tape) on the outside to form it into a ring that slips over your pot. Trace this insulation covered pot onto another piece of the bubble wrap and cut out a circle for the bottom. Tape the bottom to the ring and you've got yourself a custom koozie!
This lightweight insulation will keep freeze dried dinners and warm beverages warmer for longer on cold nights in camp. -Treeline Review writer, Kate Hoch
Rock cairns can be a beautiful decoration for your garden. Although as garden ornaments, they can be expensive to buy pre-made, they’re inexpensive to make yourself. Photo by Brandon Beavers.
4. MAKE YOUR OWN TRAIL-RELATED CRAFTS
If you like the idea of a handmade gift but would rather make it yourself, Michael’s and Home Depot and Lowe’s are a great place to get art and construction supply items for a reasonable price.
Whether your interests skew towards woodworking, masonry, or painting and crafting, it can be fun to make a thoughtful gift for the outdoors people in your life.
Both Michael’s and Home Depot and Lowe’s offer free delivery or free curbside pick-up. For a $10, Michael’s can even do same day delivery. Delivery and curbside options are especially useful in December as both of these stores (in our experience) can have long lines and limited store capacity.
We’ve created a Pinterest Board for some of our favorite Do-It-Yourself outdoor-related crafts including Mountain Shelves, Permanent Rock Cairns, or Trail Mix recipes.
See our full collection of Outdoor Do It Yourself Gifts.
