Be A Junior Ranger

You can earn a junior ranger badge and certificate.

NPS/Jacobowski

Are you the next Riverway Junior Ranger?

"Explore, Learn, and Protect!" The Junior Ranger motto is declared often at the St. Croix National Scenic Riverway as children participate in activity-based programs about rivers and fishing. Park rangers and volunteers present free programs regularly throughout the summer at the two park visitor centers.
Visitor Center Locations and Hours

Children can earn a St. Croix National Scenic Riverway Junior Ranger Badge as they:

• Learn ways that biologists study the St. Croix and Namekagon rivers.
• Make observations and discover the habitat and animals that live under the surface of the river.
• Learn the proper way to wear a life jacket.
• Meet a park ranger and take home an activity book.

See the park calendar for specific dates and locations of ranger programs.

 

Get on your way to earning the title of Junior Ranger Angler.

NPS/Caitlin Campbell

Be a Junior Ranger Angler

Children can also earn a badge based on a new national program, "Let's Go Fishing." The Junior Ranger Let’s Go Fishing program is meant to be fun, engaging, and educational by introducing kids to safe fishing practices and, potentially, a new recreational activity. Park rangers and volunteers will offer fishing programs throughout the summer.

• Learn about many aspects of fishing, fish, and the underwater river habitats they live in.
• Practice how to cast a line and make proper fishing knots.
• Learn how to wear a life jacket.
• Meet a park ranger and take home an activity book.

See the park calendar for specific dates and locations of ranger programs.

 

Can't Attend a Junior Ranger Program?

Children can earn a badge and certificate by picking up a booklet at a visitor center or downloading one:
Riverway Junior Ranger Booklet
Let's Go Fishing Booklet

Complete activities in the booklet and stop by a visitor center to do the life jacket activity and say your pledge. Then proudly wear your badge home. Or mail in your completed booklet to the St. Croix River Visitor Center and we will send you a back a badge.

Check out a Discovery Backpack
Check out a backpack from one of the visitor centers filled with gear to explore the park. Hike a nearby trail with binoculars and a guidebook for beginning birders. Capture something small to look at in a bug box. Record what you see on a checklist of common animals for the park. Bring in your checklists for a junior ranger reward.

Web Rangers & More
Visit the National Park Service junior ranger page. You will find an online version of junior ranger activities called Web Rangers and junior ranger booklets for other national park topics such as bats and national park fossils.