January 2025: A reader, Elena, made the coolest Excel spreadsheet for the Junior Ranger badges that can be earned by mail, and was kind enough to share it with everyone! You can sort the list alphabetically or by state. Thank you, Elena!
August 2024: I corrected some links, marked through some sites that no longer allow mail-in badges, and added some new mail-in badges to my list.
July 2023: I crossed out several Junior Ranger badges that are no longer available to earn by mail, but fortunately I also added a few new ones, too, and I updated my map with new Junior Ranger badges that kids can earn on-site.
"How did you figure out where all of the Junior Ranger programs are?" you ask.
Friends, I made a giant freaking map:
Yes, that is EVERY SINGLE NATIONAL PARK SITE WITH A JUNIOR RANGER PROGRAM. I put them all in by hand. I went to every single national park's website, searched for its Junior Ranger program, and if it had one I put it on my map.
When I plan road trips, I check my map for all the national park sites with Junior Ranger programs that we could detour to, and then we detour to them. During our upcoming road trip, for instance, we're visiting Saint Croix Island and Acadia National Park, primarily for their Junior Ranger programs.
But the kids' enthusiasm for earning Junior Ranger badges is unceasing, and yet we cannot spend our entire year traveling to various national parks. If only!
So I went back through every one of those websites, and I noted every park that permits children to earn their Junior Ranger badge by mail. Most of these parks provide the badge book as a downloadable pdf for kids to complete using internet or book research (often the park's own website, but we've also found useful park videos on YouTube). They mail their completed badge books to the park, and in return, the park rangers mail them back their badges and certificates.
It's always, eternally thrilling.
The kids have been doing this for years now, and still have tons of Junior Ranger badges left to earn by mail. They've learned geography, history, and several sciences in the process, experienced the breadth and depth of the national experience in ways they haven't had the opportunity to do in person, and have an intense appreciation for the variety of cultural, historical, and geographic artifacts and monuments that must be explored, preserved, and protected.
Not every national park, or even most national parks, allow their Junior Ranger badges to be earned by mail, mind you. You'll know if one does, because it will say so on its website or on the book, and it will have the book available as a downloadable pdf and include a mailing address for the completed book to be sent to. Many parks will state, kind of pissily in my opinion, that they do NOT allow badges to be earned by mail, and that's their right, but I think everyone loses when they do that--why stifle a kid's desire to learn? Why refuse an opportunity to grow someone's knowledge and love of your national park?
Before you get your kid all revved up on earning these badges by mail, you should know that since you've got to mail the completed badge books to each park, you'll be paying a few bucks for postage and manila envelopes each time. If you're conserving resources, check out the online badges that I've noted in my list--those let kids either do or submit their work online, so you don't have to pay for either supplies or postage.
Fortunately, MANY national parks are happy to have more kids interested in them and working to learn more about them! Here are all the national park Junior Ranger badges that you can earn by mail:
NOTE: I do NOT include Junior Ranger badges in which the badge book is offered as a pdf from the national park site, but kids cannot mail them in or submit them online to earn the badge without a visit to the site. Lots of national park sites offer their badge books as pdfs so that kids can get a head start on the book (which is a great idea!), and some sites even allow kids to mail in their badge books later if they didn't have time to complete them at the park, but this is is solely for badges that kids can earn entirely from home.
I'm also not including any of the newer "virtual Junior Ranger programs," which let kids complete some web activities and then print an image of the Junior Ranger badge. Those can be fun, but this list is solely for physical badges that kid can earn from home.
AND I'm also not including Junior Ranger badges that officially aren't available by mail, but that people have anecdotally or allegedly sent in, regardless. It's cool that it works for some people, and you're always welcome to contact a national park site and ask for an exception, but this particular list is hopefully just for the safe bets.
- Abraham Lincoln Birthplace National Historical Park (Kentucky)
- Adams National Historical Park (Massachusetts): note: the wording is unclear about whether or not you can receive a badge by mail, but I think it implies that you can
- Aleutian World War II National Historical Area (Alaska)
- Allegheny Portage Railroad National Historic Site (Pennsylvania)
- Amistad National Recreation Area (Texas)
- Andersonville National Historic Site (Georgia)
Andrew Johnson National Historic Site (Tennessee)- Apostle Islands National Lakeshore (Wisconsin)
- Appomattox Court House National Historical Park (Virginia). Kids can earn this one online!
- Arches National Park (Utah)
- Arizona Junior Ranger Archaeology (Arizona): badge book here; mailing address here
- Arizona Trail Junior Explorer (Arizona)
- Arlington House, the Robert E. Lee Memorial (Virginia)
- Assateague Island National Seashore (Maryland)
- Aztec Ruins National Monument (New Mexico). Kids can earn this one online!
- Badlands National Park (South Dakota)
- Bandelier National Monument (New Mexico): note: the site doesn't fully state you can receive your badge by mail, but I think they strongly imply it!
- Bainbridge Island Japanese American Exclusion Memorial (Washington)
- Bering Land Bridge National Preserve (Alaska)
- Bighorn Canyon National Recreation Area (Wyoming)
- Blackstone River Valley National Historical Park (Rhode Island): the Kelley House and Ashton Mill Junior Ranger Book can be earned by mail!
- Boston African American National Historic Site (Massachusetts)
- Boston National Historical Park (Massachusetts)
- Bryce Canyon National Park (Utah): Include a self-addressed, stamped bubble mailer to receive a wooden badge by mail.
- Buffalo National River (Arkansas)
- California National Historic Trail (California)
- Camp Nelson National Monument (Kentucky)
- Cane River Creole National Historical Park (Louisiana)
- Canyon de Chelly National Monument (Arizona)
- Canyonlands National Park (Utah)
- Cape Krusenstern National Monument (Alaska)
- Captain John Smith Chesapeake National Historic Trail (Maryland)
- Carl Sandburg Home National Historic Site (North Carolina)
- Carter G. Woodson Home National Historic Site (Washington, DC)
- Castillo de San Marcos National Monument (Florida)
- Catoctin Mountain National Park (Maryland)
Cedar Breaks National Monument (Utah)- Centennial Junior Ranger (national): badge book here; mailing address here
- Cesar E. Chavez National Monument (California)
Channel Islands National Park (California)- Charles Young Buffalo Soldiers National Monument (Ohio)
Chesapeake and Ohio Canal National Historical Park (Maryland)- Chesapeake Bay Watershed (Maryland)
Civil War Defenses of Washington (Maryland)- Clara Barton National Historic Site (Maryland)
- Congaree National Park (South Carolina)
- Cowpens National Battlefield (South Carolina)
- Crater Lake National Park (Oregon)
- Craters of the Moon National Monument and Preserve (Idaho)
- Delaware Water Gap National Recreation Area (New Jersey)
- Denali National Park and Preserve (Alaska). This was my younger kid's favorite Junior Ranger badge to earn by mail. She LOVED researching the sled dogs, and was thrilled when the ranger who mailed her badge to her wrote a letter to her that told her even more about them!
- Devils Postpile National Monument (California)
- Dinosaur National Monument (Colorado)
- Discovering the Underground Railroad (national): badge book here; mailing address here
- Ebey's Landing National Historical Reserve (Washington)
- Effigy Mounds National Monument (Iowa)
- El Camino Real de los Tejas National Historic Trail (Texas)
- El Camino Real de Tierra Adentro National Historic Trail (New Mexico)
- Erie Canalway Junior Ranger (New York)
- First Ladies National Historic Site (Ohio)
- First State National Historical Park (Delaware)
- Fort Donelson National Battlefield (Tennessee)
- Fort Hunt Park (Virginia)
- Fort Pulaski National Monument (Georgia)
- Fort Scott National Historic Site (Kansas)
- Fort Stanwix National Monument (New York)
- Fort Sumter and Fort Moultrie National Historical Park (South Carolina): note: their website isn't clear that you can earn the badge by mail, but their Instagram post notes that you can
- Frederick Douglass National Historic Site (Washington, DC)
- Gates of the Arctic National Park and Preserve (Alaska)
- George Rogers Clark National Historic Site (Indiana)
- Glacier Bay National Park and Preserve: note: you will get a sticker badge, not a pin badge, by return mail (Alaska)
Glacier National Park (Montana)Glen Canyon National Recreation Area (Utah)
- Governors Island National Monument (New York)
Grand Canyon-Parashant National Monument (Arizona)- Grand Portage National Monument (Minnesota)
- Grand Teton National Park (Wyoming)
- Great Falls Park (Virginia)
- Great Lakes Junior Ranger (Michigan)
- Great Sand Dunes National Park and Preserve (Colorado)
Gulf Islands National Seashore (Mississippi)Hagerman Fossil Beds (Ohio)Haleakala National Park (Hawaii)- Hamilton Grange National Memorial (New York)
- Hampton National Historic Site (Maryland)
- Harper's Ferry National Historical Park (West Virginia): note: I'm not completely sure you can earn this by mail, but both their website and their Instagram post imply it.
- Harry S. Truman National Historic Site (Missouri)
- Herbert Hoover National Historic Site (Iowa)
- Historic Preservation Junior Ranger (national): badge book here; mailing address here
- Hopewell Furnace National Historic Park (Pennsylvania)
- Ice Age Floods National Geologic Trail (Washington)
James A. Garfield National Historic Site (Ohio)- Jean Lafitte National Historical Park and Preserve (Louisiana)
- Jimmy Carter National Historic Site (Georgia). This is another badge that had a profound effect on my older kid. She was unexpectedly moved by the story of Jimmy Carter, and he's now one of her heroes.
- John Day Fossil Beds National Monument (Oregon)
John Fitzgerald Kennedy National Historic Site (Massachusetts)- Johnstown Flood National Memorial (Pennsylvania). Both kids loved earning this one, and it led us to explore more about our own local dam.
- Juan Bautista De Anza Historic Trail (California). This one can be earned online.
- Junior Archaeologist (national)
- Junior Cave Scientist (national)
Junior Civil War Historian (national)- Junior Explorers (Arizona)
- Junior Forest Ranger (national)
Junior Green Ranger (national)- Junior Ranger All About Bats (national): badge book here; mailing address here
- Junior Ranger Angler (national)
- Junior Ranger Eclipse Explorer (national): badge book here; mailing address here
- Junior Ranger Junior Paleontologist (national)
- Junior Ranger Let's Go Fishing (national): badge book here; mailing address here
- Junior Ranger Night Explorer (national)
- Junior Ranger Railroad Explorer (national)
- Junior Ranger River Safety (New York)
- Junior Ranger Underwater Explorer (national)
- Junior Ranger Wilderness Explorer (national): badge book here; mailing address here
- Junior Ranger Wildland Fire (Michigan)
- Junior Snow Ranger (national)
- Katmai National Park and Preserve (Alaska)
- Kenai Fjords National Park (Alaska)
Kenilworth Park and Aquatic Gardens (District of Columbia)- Kennesaw Mountain National Battlefield (Georgia)
- Keweenaw National Historical Park (Michigan)
- Klondike Gold Rush National Historical Park (Alaska)
- Kobuk Valley National Park (Alaska)
- Lake Mead National Recreation Area (Nevada). This is another one you can request by email, but I don't know if you can actually complete it without a visit.
- Lake Roosevelt National Recreation Area (Washington)
Lewis and Clark National Historic Trail (Nebraska)- Lincoln Home National Historic Site (Illinois)
- Little Bighorn Battlefield National Monument (Montana)
- Little River Canyon National Preserve (Alabama)
- Little Rock Central High School (Arkansas). This one got earned in real-life, too.
- Longfellow House Washington Headquarters National Historic Site (Massachusetts)
- Lyndon B. Johnson National Historical Park (Texas)
- Maggie L. Walker National Historic Site (Virginia)
- Manassas National Battlefield Park (Virginia)
- Manhattan Project National Historical Park (New Mexico, Tennessee, Washington)
- Manzanar National Historic Site (California)
- Martin Luther King, Jr. National Historical Park (Georgia)
- Martin Van Buren National Historic Site (New York)
- Mary McLeod Bethune National Historic Site (Washington, DC)
- Mesa Verde National Park (Colorado)
- Midwest Archaeological Center Junior Ranger (Nebraska)
- Minidoka National Historic Site (Idaho)
- Minuteman Missile Silo National Historic Park (South Dakota)
- Missouri National Recreational River (South Dakota)
- Monocacy National Battlefield (Maryland)
Montezuma Castle National Monument (Arizona)- Moores Creek National Battlefield (North Carolina)
- Mormon Pioneer National Historic Trail (Utah)
National Mall (District of Columbia)- National Park of American Samoa Junior Ranger (American Samoa)
Navajo National Monument (Arizona)- New Bedford Whaling National Historical Park (Massachusetts)
- New Orleans Jazz National Historical Park (Louisiana)
- New River Gorge National Park and Preserve (West Virginia)
- Ninety Six National Historic Site (South Carolina)
- Niobrara National Scenic River (Nebraska)
- Noatak National Preserve (Alaska)
- North Country National Scenic Trail Junior Ranger (national)
- Ocmulgee National Monument (Georgia). We went there last year!
- Oklahoma City National Memorial and Museum (Oklahoma)
Oklahoma City National Memorial 25th Anniversary (Oklahoma)- Old Spanish National Historic Trail (New Mexico)
- Oregon National Historic Trail (Oregon, Utah)
- Padre Island National Seashore (Texas)
- Pea Ridge National Military Park (Arkansas)
Petersburg National Battlefield (Virginia)- Petrified Forest National Park (Arizona). The kids earned this one by mail, because we didn't know about the Junior Ranger program when we visited there.
- Pinnacles National Park
(California): note: you CAN mail the badge book in and receive a badge, but the park strongly implies it would like the bulk of the work to be completed on-site - Pipestone National Monument (Minnesota)
Point Reyes National Seashore (California). I didn't know about Junior Rangers when we visited here, either--thank goodness for badges earned by mail!- Pony Express National Historic Trail (Wyoming)
- Portland General Electric (Oregon)
- President William Jefferson Clinton Birthplace Home (Arkansas)
- Prince William Forest Park (Virginia)
- Puʻuhonua o Hōnaunau (Hawaii)
- Railroad Explorer Junior Ranger (national)
- Reconstruction Era National Historical Park (South Carolina)
- Richmond National Battlefield Park (Virginia)
Roger Williams National Memorial (Rhode Island)- Russell Cave National Monument (Alabama)
- Saguaro National Park (Arizona)
- Saint Croix National Scenic Riverway (Wisconsin, Minnesota)
- Saint Paul's Church National Historic Site (New York)
- San Antonio Missions National Historical Park (Texas)
- Salem Maritime National Historic Site (Massachusetts)
- San Juan Island National Historical Park (Washington)
- Santa Fe National Historic Trail (New Mexico)
Santa Monica Mountains National Recreation Area (California)- Saugus Iron Works National Historic Site (Massachusetts)
Sequoia and Kings Canyon National Parks (California)Shiloh National Military Park (Tennessee)- Sitka National Historical Park (Alaska). Matt and I have been to Sitka, but we weren't thinking about Junior Rangers while we were there!
- Sleeping Bear Dunes National Lakeshore (Michigan)
- Springfield Armory National Historic Site (Massachusetts)
- Star-Spangled Banner National Historic Trail (Maryland)
Stones River National Battlefield (Tennessee)- St. Paul's Church National Historic Site (New York)
- Stonewall National Monument (New York)
- Tallgrass Prairie National Preserve (Kansas)
- Theodore Roosevelt Island (Virginia)
- Thomas Stone National Historic Site (Maryland)
Timpanogos Cave National Monument (Utah)- Trail of Tears National Historic Trail (New Mexico)
- Upper Delaware Scenic and Recreational River (New York)
- Virtual Junior Ranger Red Rock Canyon (Nevada)
- War in the Pacific National Historical Park (Guam)
- Washita Battlefield National Historic Site (Oklahoma)
- Western Arctic National Parklands (Alaska)
- White Sands National Park (New Mexico)
- Whitman Mission National Historic Site (Washington)
- Wildland Fire Junior Ranger (national)
- Wind Cave National Park (South Dakota)
- W. Kerr Scott Dam and Reservoir (North Carolina)
- Wolf Trap National Park for the Performing Arts (Virginia)
- Women's Rights National Historical Park (New York)
- World Heritage Junior Ranger (national)
- Wrangell-St. Elias National Park and Preserve (Alaska). Matt and I have been to Wrangell without the kids, too!
- Yosemite National Park (California)
Zion National Park (Utah)
This is one of my absolute favorite activities that we do in our homeschool, but it's partly so wonderful because it's so adaptable. Sure, it can be your entire geography curriculum, or just an enrichment to another spine. You can include it in your history studies, or in the natural or earth sciences. Even if you don't homeschool, these Junior Ranger books are so fun that kids can simply DO them for fun. My kids do, and they think it's a nifty trick that I also let them count them for school!
If your kids love earning Junior Ranger badges, then they'd likely be interested in learning about the national park system as a whole--there's so much to explore there, from history and culture to geology and the sciences. Here are some of our favorite resources for learning about and exploring the national park system:
- National Geographic Atlas of the National Parks: for kids who like maps
- National Geographic Complete National Parks of the United States: this is the best one, because it has EVERY national park site in it!
- National Parks of the USA: the most kid-friendly
- National Parks of the USA Activity Book: for kids who really just want to be doing puzzles!
- Eyewitness National Parks: My older kid has adored every Eyewitness book ever created.
P.S. Want more obsessively-compiled lists of resources and activities for kiddos and the people who want to keep them happy and engaged? Check out my Craft Knife Facebook page!
1 comment:
You can also earn your Washita Battlefield junior Ranger badge from home!
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