"Explore, Learn, and Protect!" The Junior Ranger motto is recited by children around the country; each taking an oath of their own to protect parks, continue to learn about parks, and share their own ranger story with friends and family.
The NPS Junior Ranger program is an activity based program conducted in almost all parks, and some Junior Ranger programs are national. Many national parks offer young visitors the opportunity to join the National Park Service "family" as Junior Rangers.
Interested youth complete a series of activities during a park visit, share their answers with a park ranger, and receive an official Junior Ranger patch and Junior Ranger certificate. Junior Rangers are typically between the ages of 5 to 13, although people of all ages can participate.
There are many ways that you can become a Junior Ranger! You can complete a book at home to mail in, or you can go to a park to do a book and collect your badge! See below for a list of badges that you can collect.
General National Park topic badges you can earn from home:
- Let's Go Fishing!
- Underwater Explorer
- Night Skies
- Underground Railroad
- Historic Preservation
- World Heritage
- Junior Archeologist
Click here for a complete list of booklets above of where to send your badge when you complete your book.
You can also earn these badges at home:
You can also become a Webranger!
Help a baby sea turtle reach the sea... Be a spy... Drive a dog sled... Experience the life and death struggle of a puma.
If you are interested in the world around you and learning about our nation's heritage, this program is for you! And best of all, the WebRanger programs let you become a Junior Ranger from home, school or anywhere.
Click here to set up your ranger station and start your journey! There are more than 70 activities for you to learn along with your parents as you explore, learn, and protect your national parks.
Become a Webranger!
Below is a list of National Park sites within the Chesapeake Bay Watershed that you can visit and collect your Junior Ranger badge.
- Allegheny Portage Railroad National Historic Site
- Antietam National Battlefield
- Appalachian National Scenic Trail
- Appomattox Court House National Historic Park
- Belmont-Paul Women's Equality National Monument
- Blue Ridge Parkway
- Catoctin Mountain Park
- Cedar Creek & Belle Grove National Historical Park
- Chesapeake & Ohio Canal National Historical Park
- Clara Barton National Historic Site
- Eisenhower National Historic Site
- Ford's Theatre National Historic Site
- Fort McHenry National Monument and Historic Shrine
- Fort Monroe National Monument
- Fort Washington Park
- Frederick Douglass National Historic Site
- Fredericksburg & Spotsylvania National Military Park
- George Washington Birthplace National Monument
- George Washington Memorial Parkway
- Gettysburg National Military Park
- Glen Echo Park
- Great Falls Park
- Hampton National Historic Site
- Harpers Ferry National Historical Park
- Harriet Tubman Underground Railroad National Historical Park
- Historic Jamestowne Part of Colonial National Historical Park
- Kenilworth Park & Aquatic Gardens
- Manassas National Battlefield Park
- Mary McLeod Bethune Council House National Historic Site
- Monocacy National Battlefield
- National Mall & Memorial Parks
- Oxon Cove Park & Oxon Hill Farm
- Petersburg National Battlefield
- President's Park (White House)
- Prince William Forest Park
- Richmond National Battlefield Park
- Rock Creek Park
- Shenendoah National Park
- Steamtown National Historic Site
- Theodore Roosevelt Island
- Thomas Stone National Historic Site
- Wolf Trap National Park for the Performing Arts
- Yorktown Battlefield Part of Colonial National Historical Park