The Best Experience Gifts for Outdoor & Adventure Lovers
- Emily Richards
- 9 hours ago
- 7 min read
If you ask me, the best gifts are the ones you actually remember.
We’ve accumulated plenty of stuff over the years, but the things I remember most aren’t the things sitting on a shelf. They’re the weekend we spent somewhere new, the ski day that turned into an entire family adventure, the random Tuesday we decided to go somewhere just because we could.
And if you’re shopping for someone who loves the outdoors, travel, or just getting out and doing something instead of buying more stuff, experience gifts are one of my favorite ways to go.
They can be big and bucket-list-worthy or incredibly simple. And bonus: a lot of them work for the whole family.
Here are some of my favorite experience gift ideas for the adventurers in your life.
Table of Contents:
Gift a National Parks Pass
Gift of a Unique Stay or Cabin Getaway
This might be one of my favorite gifts on the entire list.
If you know someone who loves road trips, hiking, camping, or exploring new places, an America the Beautiful Pass is basically the gift of an entire year of adventures.
The pass covers entrance fees at thousands of federal recreation sites across the country, including national parks. And unlike a gift that gets used once and forgotten about, this one can turn into dozens of adventures throughout the year.
Plus it supports our parks!
P.S. Not into the pass design this year? My friend makes these really cool pass covers check them out here!
Instead of giving someone something to unwrap, give them something to look forward to. There are so many amazing experiences that you can book right online for just about anywhere in the country (and world).
This is SO great for families that don't want more toys piling up too.
Think:
A horseback riding trip
A backcountry tour
A snowshoe adventure
A wildlife or photography tour
A guided national park experience
Ways to Book:
Giftory has experiences you can purchase all over the world ranging from cooking classes to hot air baloon rides!
Airbnb Experiences has loads of cool local experiences, not just housing rentals!
57 Hours has a huge range of outdoor adventure and travel experiences you can book online.
You can either book the actual experience or give a gift card and let them choose their own adventure.
This is especially fun for the person who is always saying, "We should totally do that someday."
Make someday a date on the calendar.
There is something about giving someone a night or weekend somewhere beautiful that feels so much more special than another physical gift.
Find a cozy cabin, treehouse, yurt, tiny home, glamping site, or other unique stay and give them a weekend away.
Hipcamp has some great options all over the globe for cabins, yurts, vintage airstreams, etc.
Airbnb is a great place to find stays for people less interested in roughing it, you can get pretty glamorous on here even!
Under Canvas is specifically for glamping experiences and they are SO fun though more limited on locations.
You don't even have to go far.
Some of my favorite adventures have been close to home. The point is getting somewhere different, turning off the normal routine, and waking up somewhere beautiful.
And if you don't know exactly when they'll be able to travel, a lodging gift card is an easy option.
Take the cabin idea one step further and gift the entire getaway.
Pick a campsite or glamping spot, make the reservation, and give them an itinerary for their little adventure.
You could include:
Friday: Drive + campfire dinner
Saturday: Hike + explore + dinner outside
Sunday: Slow morning + coffee + head home
You could even make this a family gift. Kids don't need a huge pile of presents when
what they really want is somewhere to explore.
If they have an RV we LOVE Harvest Hosts, a yearly membership that gets you free stays at vineyard, farms, breweries, museums, and so much more.
Hip Camp is great if they have the camping gear but want a cool place to put it, a gift card would be perfect.
Under Canvas is ideal of glamping, but more limited in locations.
If they are seasoned campers a membership to The Dyrt could be fun! This is just an app that helps you find great spots to camp.
For the person who has always wanted to try van life or RV travel, a rental could be an incredible gift.
You're basically giving them transportation, lodging, and an adventure all in one.
Pick a destination they've always wanted to visit, rent the rig, and send them off for a road trip.
This is one of those gifts that sounds slightly crazy until you realize how many memories can happen in a few days on the road.
Outdoorsy is a great way to book camper vans and RV's in your local area. We used to rent our van on here and it was a great time ;)
For the winter adventure lover, don't underestimate the gift of a day on the mountain.
A lift ticket, ski lesson, rental package, or even a season pass can be an amazing experience gift.
If you want to get me a gift I'm size "Ski School for my 5 Year Old" so that my husband and I can ski together alone again this winter...
Basically you either gift them their local mountain pass or your options are Ikon and Epic. Just depends on where they live or frequently travel to.
This is a great one for the person who already seems to own everything.
Give them a class instead.
Think:
Fly fishing
Navigation
Backpacking
Rock climbing
Camp cooking
Survival skills
Outdoor navigation
Some really cool online class options are Masterclass and Skillshare.
Local education options vary but you can try Airbnb Experiences and Giftory!
There is always something new to learn outside, and these are the kinds of gifts that can actually make future adventures better.
For the person who is always the one behind the camera, give them the chance to get better at it.
Book a photography workshop, outdoor photography class, or even a private photo walk with a photographer whose work they love.
Airbnb Experiences has guided hikes with photographers that can be really fun!
Online classes from Masterclass and Skillshare are easy and can be done anywhere.
And if you're feeling really generous, pair it with a future adventure so they have somewhere incredible to practice.
Because what's the point of having a camera if you don't have somewhere awesome to take it?
Not every adventure needs to involve hiking uphill.
Actually, some of us would really appreciate an experience that involves doing absolutely nothing.
A really fun resource for gifting Spa Days is Spa Finder! Just gift a card and anyone can find a spa and the specific service they like in their area.
A massage, sauna session, hot springs visit, spa day, or wellness getaway makes a fantastic gift for the person who spends all year going, going, going.
And if they're coming home from a big trip, this might be the most appreciated gift of all.
Can't decide what experience they'll love?
Let them choose.
Give them a gift card for an experience platform or create your own little "adventure menu" with a few options.
For example:
A: Weekend cabin getaway
B: Guided adventure
C: Ski day
D: National park road trip
They pick one, and you make it happen.
It takes some of the pressure out of trying to guess exactly what someone wants while still making the gift feel thoughtful and personal.
11. A Local Adventure
You don't have to travel across the country to give someone an incredible experience.
Look around your own town.
Book a climbing gym pass. Take a family rafting trip. Try a new trail. Visit a local hot spring. Go horseback riding. Take a cooking class. Rent bikes. Go fly fishing.
Some of the best experiences are the ones that make you realize you've been overlooking the amazing things in your own backyard.
Giftory has experiences you can purchase all over the world ranging from cooking classes to hot air baloon rides!
Airbnb Experiences has loads of cool local experiences, not just housing rentals!
57 Hours has a huge range of outdoor adventure and travel experiences you can book online.
You know the trip.
The one they've been saying they want to take for approximately three years.
Maybe it's Yellowstone. Maybe it's Alaska. Maybe it's a ski trip. Maybe it's finally visiting a national park they've never been to.
You don't necessarily have to pay for the entire thing. You could also use something like Get Your Guide or 57 Hours to grab already planned trips!
Give them the first piece of the puzzle: a National Parks Pass, a hotel gift card, a campground reservation, a rental car, an activity, or even a handwritten itinerary.
Sometimes the best gift is simply saying:
"We're actually doing it."
The Best Gifts Don't Have to Be Things
I love a good piece of outdoor gear. Obviously.
But if I've learned anything from spending so much time traveling and exploring with my family, it's that the things we talk about years later are almost always the experiences.
The road trip.
The weird campsite.
The first ski day.
The national park.
The cabin in the woods.
The time we took a random turn and ended up somewhere incredible.
So if you're struggling with what to buy the adventurer in your life this year, maybe skip the Amazon cart and give them something they can actually look forward to.
Give them an adventure.
Because they'll probably remember that a whole lot longer than whatever was sitting underneath the Christmas tree.
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