The National Parks Junior Ranger Program
When we visited our first National Park as a family of five, we hadn’t done a huge amount of planning ahead. We booked the trip only a month and a half before our travel dates, and only had a rough idea that we wanted to visit the Grand Canyon, Bryce NP, and Zion NP. Since it was in 2022, and my youngest was born in 2020, we also hadn’t traveled much as a family of five. Most of my planning centered around the logistics of the trip. Since it was December, I knew we’d have more options traveling in the low season.
On our second day at the Grand Canyon, we overheard another family trying to answer some trivia questions about the National Park. They had what looked like a workbook and were completing some activities. I asked about it the next time we stopped at a ranger station. This is how, by coincidence, we discovered the Junior Ranger program!
Anyone who’s been to any of the National Parks sites may already be familiar with this program. Kids of all ages can complete activities about each site and earn a unique badge. Every site is a little different, as there’s no central organization that creates the materials. But usually there’s a handbook with activities for different ages at varying degrees of difficulty.
Once you’ve completed the required tasks, you return to the ranger station. A ranger checks the work, asks some questions, awards the unique badge, and swears the new junior ranger in! Each site has its own badge, and there’s always a desk with stamps available. You can stamp your workbook or the back of your badge with the date it was earned.
Zion NP
Most handbooks require a different older children to complete more pages.
This program has added an extra dimension to our NP site visits. All five of us work together to complete the tasks, looking through the visitor center exhibits and exploring the grounds. We parents have learned (and remembered) a lot more than if we had just self-toured each site. And the kids have been much more engaged with what they’re seeing, motivated to earn yet another badge! It’s been such a great experience for us that we now plan our trips around the NP sites that offer badges just to be able to earn more!
Abraham Lincoln Birthplace NHS
Activities range from mazes to word searches to fill in the blanks and fact-finding. It’s a wonderful way for families to interact with the site. Kids have a task they’re interested in, allowing adults to spend more time at each site.
My oldest is so proud of his 18 badges! And with eight more in the Boston area that we have yet to earn, we will have a busy spring and summer ahead!