If you have been in an Arkansas state park store lately, you might have noticed something different.
Rather than shirts promoting that specific park, you will notice that almost all the new merchandise just features the generic official ASP logo, with the specific park name relegated to small letters—if it is mentioned at all.
So you may be thrilled to hike the vistas of Mount Magazine, love the waterfall beauty of Petit Jean, or be dazzled by the diamond-hunting experience at Crater of Diamonds, but the only new t-shirt available to commemorate your trip is probably a generic ASP logo shirt.
While store shelves may still hold older, not-yet-sold traditional inventory that promotes individual parks, nearly all the new apparel is just the ASP logo shirts.
I have nothing against the official ASP logo. It’s a great design! But visitors to Petit Jean should be able to buy a shirt boldly promoting Petit Jean (or whichever park) and not just the state system.
Could you imagine if you make a trip to Grand Canyon National Park and they have no shirts boldly promoting that Grand Canyon? Sounds pretty crazy, right?
If you are an Arkansas state park fan like me and you would like to see Arkansas state park stores return to stocking shirts which proudly promote their individual parks, send your constructive feedback to the Arkansas Department of Parks, Heritage, and Tourism:
- Email: parks.info@arkansas.gov
- Phone: 1-888-287-2757
By the way, all the information here is based on my own observations from visiting various Arkansas state park gift shops this year and from speaking directly with staff about current shirt availability.