Ten years ago, a closed trail in Big Sur quietly changed the course of Keith Eshelman’s life.
On paternity leave with his newborn daughter, Eshelman was spending long days in California’s parks when he arrived at a trailhead and found it shut. Curious, and with rare free time on his hands, he started digging into how parks actually work, who maintains the places he loved, and why so many trails seemed to be caught in a backlog of repairs.
What he discovered was both humbling and galvanizing, “I pretty much found out most of the park trails that I used were maintained by volunteers, and that just activated me right away.”
Trail days turned into habitat restoration projects in Northern and Southern California, and Eshelman began to see a pattern. There were “all these park projects” happening out of sight, often powered by retirees and local volunteers, with no real platform to tell their stories or invite the next generation in.
Those park projects became the spark for Parks Project. Celebrating its 10th anniversary, that spark has grown into a supercool, certified B Corp lifestyle brand that designs park-inspired apparel, home goods, and outdoor accessories to fund conservation and habitat restoration.
Over its first decade, Parks Project has donated more than $2.6 million back into projects in national, state, and local parks — and as it celebrates its 10th anniversary, the team is focused on turning even more park enthusiasts into active Park Champions by 2035.
From Volunteer Days To a Brand With a Mission
Before starting Parks Project, Eshelman spent years inside purpose-led companies, learning how hard it is to build something from scratch and keep an eye on the bottom line. What finally pushed him to start his own thing was not a spreadsheet, but the feeling he got from those early trail days — “working with earth,” clearing invasive plants, and learning the stories of meadows, forests, and coastlines alongside volunteers who had been doing it for decades.
As he moved between volunteer projects and visitor centers, a disconnect came into focus. On one side were the unglamorous “park projects” he was now part of; on the other, the disposable souvenirs most visitors saw as their only way to support the parks. That gap became the central question: could better product be a bridge between the people buying park gear and the people maintaining the places they loved?
Eshelman called on a circle of designer friends, built a first collection, and took a gamble on a trade show. Positioning Parks Project alongside emerging outdoor brands helped buyers see it as something new — and early orders gave him the signal he needed to go all-in.
An L.A. Take on Outdoor Culture
Parks Project’s identity has always reflected its hometown. Being from Los Angeles — not Denver or Seattle — meant it was never going to be a traditional, performance-first outdoor brand. Instead, it leaned into the city’s diversity, music, and creativity, treating parks as part of culture, not separate from it.
Most Parks Project customers live in cities and may only get to “a couple of parks, national parks a year.” Inside the company, there is a simple test for new products, “It’s always a question we ask is like, can somebody take this from a hike to brunch, right?” If a piece feels at home on a trail and just as natural at a neighborhood café, it is doing its job.
For Eshelman, that accessibility is the point. He talks about his own journey to becoming a California naturalist and how he wants to help others become “naturalist light” — people who pay more attention to their surroundings and feel a deeper connection to the land, even if they never label themselves as hardcore outdoorsy.
Collaborations That Bring New People Into Parks
One of the most distinctive ways Parks Project reaches new audiences is through its collaborations, using music, characters, and media as gateways into the parks.
On the music side, some ideas start with other people’s park stories. Eshelman read Anthony Kiedis’s and Flea’s books and saw how important their early trips to Yosemite had been. As a board member of NatureBridge Yosemite, which gets kids into parks, he pitched a Red Hot Chili Peppers collaboration that would celebrate their shared California roots and help support NatureBridge’s work — “some Californication together for the parks,” as he puts it.
That same spirit runs through Park Sessions, a four-part series “on bringing musicians into national parks,” with 30-minute performances filmed in the landscapes Parks Project exists to protect, featured on Outside’s platform.
Beyond music, Parks Project has played in the world of beloved characters and media brands, from Peanuts and Dr. Seuss to Yogi Bear and National Geographic, often redrawing characters or placing them into specific park settings. It is a playful way to help people who might not see themselves in traditional outdoor imagery feel like the parks are for them too.
For Eshelman, it all comes back to a simple belief, “parks are for all.” Whether someone arrives through a favorite band, a childhood character, or a first hike, the goal is to help them feel that parks are a place where they belong.
Building Better Products and Smarter Impact
From day one, Eshelman wanted Parks Project products to last longer and tread more lightly. In the early years, that translated into a strong commitment to domestic manufacturing, until margins and pricing forced some tough lessons.
Rather than abandon the mission, the team asked customers and buyers what truly mattered and rebuilt the supply chain to balance price, quality, and sustainability — shifting more materials to recycled content, paying closer attention to the impact of transportation, launching a resale program so fans can pass pieces on to other Parks Project supporters, and becoming a certified B Corp with a score of 88.
Where the Money Goes
A key part of Parks Project’s model is how it chooses which projects to support. Each collection starts with a specific landscape in mind — a desert ecosystem, a mountain range, an iconic park like Joshua Tree. The design team immerses itself in the colors, flora, and fauna of that place, then works with a local conservancy or park partner to identify a concrete project that needs funding.
Over time, the company has refined this into three pillars of impact: direct financial contributions, education and advocacy, and volunteer activation. A Joshua Tree collection might support a dark sky initiative; another line might back habitat restoration or youth education. The goal is to connect product, story, and stewardship in a way that feels clear and tangible.
The Next Ten Years
As Parks Project marks its 10th anniversary, Eshelman is looking ahead with a simple north star, “By 2035, we will ignite a global movement of 100 million Park Champions, each forging profound bonds with nature and inspiring a new era of harmonious coexistence.”
The next chapter is about turning that vision into reality — one T-shirt, one volunteer day, and one new park story at a time.