about my collection - "the wall"
So as I mentioned before, I didn’t really know the Junior Ranger program existed before when I was in my teens. I got my first badge in my twenties (from Petrified Forest NP, by the way) and I was hooked! Completing the Junior Ranger program was a great way to learn about the site and explore it in a way I wouldn’t have otherwise thought to. That’s what makes the Junior Ranger program so special and why I really love participating at each NPS site that I visit. So now I am obsessed with collecting these Badges/ Patches from every NPS site. And don’t even get me started about the NPS Cancellation Stamps... :)
The sad part is that I have been to many more national park sites than what are listed here but because I didn’t know about the Junior Ranger program at the time I visited them, I never completed the books. :( I am, however, trying to make up for that by printing out the books of the places I have visited from their website on NPS.gov, completing them and mailing them in when I can. But not all parks offer their books online and/or allow you to mail them in... so in some cases it is still not possible for me to complete it unless I actually visit the site again.
Here’s a list of the ones I’ve collected so far...
- Appalachian Trail
- Castillo de San Marcos NM
- Castillo de San Marcos NM - Master Junior Ranger Patch
- Clara Barton NHS
- Clara Barton Civil War 150th Anniversary Junior Ranger (Traveling Clara Barton)
- Ford's Theatre NHS
- Fort Donelson NB
- Fort Matanzas NM
- Fort Matanzas NM - Master Junior Ranger Patch
- George Washington Memorial Parkway
- George Washington Memorial Parkway - Civil War Junior Ranger
- Great Falls NP
- Historic Jamestown
- Junior Paleontologist
- Kennesaw Mountain NBP
- National Mall
- National Mall and Memorial Parks - Cherry Blossom Festival
- Old Post Office Tower
- Petrified Forest NP
- President's Park
- Presidential Inauguration
- Shenandoah NP
- Shenandoah NP - Appalachian Trail Ranger Explorer Patch
- Shenandoah NP - Rock On, Stony Man! Ranger Explorer Patch
- Shenandoah NP - Shenandoah Wilderness Ranger Explorer Patch
- Theodore Roosevelt Island
- Yorktown Battlefield
I know it’s not much but you have to start somewhere! :)