Junior Ranger

Every time Team Och ventures out for an adventure, we usually find ourselves in a park...national or state...and discover that it hosts a Junior Ranger Program. We had first become aware of this genius idea when the fam camped out at Bryce Canyon National Park with the base's outdoor recreation group last year.

At each Ranger Station or Visitor Center in the park, young visitors can pick up an activity book (some parks offer it for free, some for a small 2 or 3 dollar fee). The activities have great information aimed at children about the park itself and encourages conservation. Upon completion, a ranger reviews the book, swears the new junior ranger into the corps, and hands the little one a certificate and a badge.

We had started out with Dylan and Sophia participating, but since our boy is advancing into the "I'm too cool pre-teen" age, Sophia has been the key Junior Ranger of the family. She loves the challenge of the activities, and especially loves the shiny badges or colorful patches she receives as reward.
So far, she has earned junior ranger badges from Bryce Canyon, Yellowstone, Grand Teton, Bear Lake, Antelope Island, Garden of the Gods, and Mount Rushmore.

It is a great way to enrich a child's experience in these wonderful places. To this day, Sophia can still explain how a mesa gradually transforms into a spire (like the ones seen in Bryce Canyon). So hopefully, when she is older, she just won't shrug and say, "Yeah, I went to the Grand Canyon when I was a kid...it was big."