Let me start off by saying that I didn’t really visit national parks. It wasn’t that I didn’t like them, I just never really went. I mean, I had been to “national parks” before: Statue of Liberty and the like. But though those sites are important, and are no less than any other site in the NPS, it didn’t really seem like what I thought a national park should be like. The first National Park that I remember visiting and was like “This is a National Park,” is Great Smoky Mountains NP. And that’s not even in my home state! I was about 12 then. We went during October when there was a chill in the air and the leaves were really changing and driving through Blue Ridge Parkway was amazing. My real passion for National Parks didn’t start till years later after revisiting the Smoky Mountains. I hiked a trail, and from then on I was hooked. I told myself I would take advantage of every long road trip to visit at least one national park site if possible. Luckily my family was on board too. ;)
It was many years later, during a family road trip across the country to California, that I discovered the Junior Ranger program. You’d think that it would have been when I was the “right age” for the program—No, of course not. I was in my twenties when I got my first badge, which was from Petrified Forest NP, by the way. And yes, despite my age, I was—and often still am—officially sworn in by a park ranger.
What I love about the Junior Ranger program is not just the fact that you get a badge or patch (though that is pretty cool ;)), but that as you complete the activities you really actually learn about the site and explore it in a way that you never otherwise would have. It brings your attention to the off-the-beaten-path type of stuff you may miss by just “passing through;” which is kind of how our visits to parks used to be. That’s what makes this program so special and why I really love participating at each NPS site that I visit.
As a ranger in DC put it: I am a “Senior Junior Ranger,” which makes me smile. Especially since at some park sites, being older than 12 and completing the program is not looked upon too well (particularly when you are wanting your rightfully earned badge or patch ;)). And that’s because I’m still young. I can’t imagine what looks people my parents’ age (or older) get when they turn in their Junior Ranger books at the visitor center. :)
Over the years I have visited many sites managed by the NPS, but my favorites still remain the “natural” parks; the places where nature’s beauty and splendor abound. I’ve seen things like the pristine white sand dunes of White Sands NM; the perfectly preserved thousand-year old logs of Petrified Forest NP; the elegant blue mountain vistas of the Blue Ridge Parkway and Skyline Drive; and the incredible, the indescribable, the “you-really-don’t-know-what-its-like-till-you-see-it-in-person” Grand Canyon NP. If I wasn’t in love with our National Parks before, I certainly was then. There is nothing more beautiful than the sun setting over the Grand Canyon or the rise of the mountains before you as you drive through the Smoky Mountains.
I know that it will take a long, long time to collect all the badges, patches, certificates and pins from all the NPS sites that offer them, and perhaps I will never make it to all of them in my lifetime. Visiting all 400+ sites truly is a great accomplishment, and maybe even a daunting one. But you can’t let that discourage you from trying. You just have to take it one site at a time.
Our National Parks. Truly “America’s Best Idea.”
Explore On, Junior Ranger! :)