Whether you exchange gifts for Christmas, Hanukkah, Kwanzaa, Boxing Day, the Feast of St. Nicholas, Saint Lucia'™s Day, or some other year-end holiday, we have some ideas for the national park lover on your list.

Pack For the Backcountry

More and more these days, going into the backcountry of a national park means going light, and both Osprey Packs and Mountainsmith can help you get there. Osprey'™s Exos Superlight line is a good example of the transformation to smaller, lighter packs. This line features three packs'”the 38, 48, and 58'”that weigh in between 2 pounds, 3 ounces, and 2 pounds, 12 ounces. (MSRP $159.95-$219.95) Stretch mesh panels helps keep these packs streamlined, and there'™s an integrated pocket for your hydration system, and any number of adjustments that can further reduce the weight based on your needs. The lid, for instance, can be removed. Then just flip a storm cover over the top to provide a weather-resistant lid with a compression-strap cinch for stability.

Mountainsmith'™s Mystic 65 (MSRP $219) is either a big daypack or a small backpack. It'™s big enough to comfortably swallow everything you'™ll need for a quick weekend jaunt into the parks, but can also stow enough for a longer trek. During testing we were able to stuff a sleeping bag into the bottom pocket, tuck away rain pants and rain jacket in the top flap, and fill the main compartment with stove and fuel, food sack, and an extra layer of clothes. We were even able to secure a tent on top along with a sleeping pad. 

Staying Warm In The Backcountry

The Backcountry Bed from Sierra Designs is a three-season sleeping bag: a hybrid of a mummy bag and a down comforter. While the bag'™s traditional mummy shape contains body heat, a panel on the top of the bag can be tossed back like the covers of your bed. This design means there is no zipper, so no snagging in the middle of the night as you adjust to your comfort zone. There'™s a foot opening for your feet, though, if things get too hot.

Of course, summer backcountry trips in the parks mean you will encounter those nights when you really don'™t need a sleeping bag. That'™s when Therm-A-Rest'™s Auriga Blanket (MSRP $270 reg./$290 long) comes in extremely handy. This, basically, is a blanket filled with 750-fill down. When paired with a good insulating sleeping pad it will keep you warm down to about 35 degrees. At just 1 pound, 8 ounces in the long (76 inches) version (fits to 6-foot-4), the Auriga Blanket is a great, lightweight sleeping alternative for summer backpacking trips.

Staying Warm, Part II

I truly came to appreciate Cocoon'™s bag liners when I was camped just above Shoshone Lake in Yellowstone National Park'™s backcountry. The company'™s 100 percent merino wool TravelSheet (MSPR $100) added at least 7 degrees of warmth to my sleeping bag, and fears of becoming tangled as I moved in my sleep never materialized. True, the price might catch your breath, but if you'™re a frequent traveler and wonder about the cleanliness of the linens on your hotel room bed, find yourself frequently in a hostel, want a bit of added warmth for your rectangular sleeping bag, or want a warm, lightweight throw you can keep handy in the family room, this TravelSheet is a nice way to go. 

Float The Last Undammed Tributary of the Colorado River With The Traveler

Join National Parks Traveler next spring as we spend five days floating the Yampa River through Dinosaur National Monument in northwestern Colorado and northeastern Utah. Professional river runners from Holiday River Expeditions will provide natural history interpretation and cater to us with three sumptuous meals a day beginning with lunch the first day and ending with lunch on the last day. With you will be noted national park historian Dr. Alfred Runte, who consulted for and appeared on the Ken Burns/Dayton Duncan documentary, The National Parks: America'™s Best Idea, and who wrote National Parks, The American Experience. He will lead campfire discussions about the National Park System. We'™ve reserved June 6-10, 2015, for Traveler readers. Pricing is $900 per person. To reserve your spot, call Holiday River Expeditions at 1-800-624-6323 and tell them you'™d like to float with the Traveler. Or, book online at Holiday'™s website by picking the Yampa River trip for June 6-10. Space is available for 18-22 travelers. For more details, click here.

Gimme Shelter

Sierra Designs'™ Flash 3 tent is for campers traveling by canoe, kayak, or vehicle (MSRP $400). It'™s a roomy, low-slung tent that integrates a rainfly to the tent body. While the connection between tent and fly make it hard to distribute the tent'™s 6 pounds, 3 ounces among backpackers, it does help ensure the interior stays dry if you find yourself setting up camp in the rain. The doors on either end are not covered by vestibules, but rather awnings that jut 17 inches out from the tent body. This makes access easy, greatly enhances visibility, and allows you to keep the door open in the rain, unless sideways. 

Keep Yourself Hydrated

Identify yourself as a national parks traveler, and stay hydrated, with a Traveler water bottle. Made in the USA with recycled materials, these aluminum bottles help ensure your thirst remains sated as you explore the National Park System. For more information and to order, click here.

Stanley Mountain Coffee System

Leave it to Stanley to make a one-stop pot of coffee. Their new vacuum coffee system has it all: a pot for boiling water, a French press, a vacuum bottle, plus two cups and a compartment to stow your favorite grind. And it works. Their Mountain Coffee System (MSRP $60) is rust-proof stainless steel, and will make a full liter of hot coffee... easily. Just boil the water in the bottom shell, pour grounds in the water and steep, and then push the plastic, screened press down slowly. Voila! Then, pour it into the vacuum bottle (there'™s a locking handle to keep your hands intact), and you and a friend can stay warm, and wired. Works for me.

When You're Snowed Into Your Cabin....

Move over Monopoly, look out Chutes and Ladders, Trekking the National Parks (MSRP $65) has arrived. This family board game introduces players to the 59 national parks in a fun and competitive way. Up to six players compete in a cross-country race to visit the national parks and collect the most points. By gathering colored trek cards you can move across the map and claim valuable park cards. If you are the first to visit a park, you win that park'™s stone, which awards bonus points at the end of the game. Players must jockey for position and make tough tactical decisions at every turn to emerge victorious!