Big Bend National Park
Just For Kids
Explore Big Bend!
Big Bend National Park offers many opportunities for children. This unique desert region provides opportunities for exploration. To make the most of your visit, complete a junior ranger activity booklet to earn a badge or patch!
Discover Big Bend
There are many online resources for learning about Big Bend National Park and the National Park Service. If you are writing a school report, or just want to learn more about your parks, visit the History (apn.com), Flora & Fauna (apn.com) and Places To Go (apn.com) sections of this website.
Become a Junior Ranger:
Discover Big Bend history, the parts of a cactus, and what javelina eat! The Big Bend Junior Ranger program is designed for kids of all ages. Through activities, games, and puzzles, kids can have fun as they learn about the park. Required activities include attending a ranger-led program, visiting a historic area, hiking on a park trail, and completing activity pages that encourage direct experience and discovery learning in diverse park environments. They can also earn stickers, badges, patches, and certificates. Both children and adults benefit by sharing the fun of becoming a Big Bend Junior Ranger.
What is a Junior Ranger?
A junior ranger is someone who, after attending ranger programs and completing activities in a workbook, promises to take care of Big Bend and other national parks. It is a great way to learn and have fun in the park!
How does it work?
While visiting Big Bend National Park, pick up a Junior Ranger Activity Booklet at any park visitor center. They cost only $2.00. Complete the appropriate activities for your age group (listed inside) and return the booklet to any visitor center. A park ranger will review your book with you.
When your booklet is completed you will receive:
* A Junior Ranger Badge or a Junior Ranger Patch
* A Big Bend Wildlife Bookmark
* An official Junior Ranger Certificate to frame and enjoy
Big Bend In Depth
News from the Parks
12-year-old Seeks to Accomplish Lofty Parks Goal by the Age of 14
October 14, 2008 - 9:47am
More than 100,000 miles, two motorcars, 48 states and 270 national parks later, 12-year-old Chandler Johnson still hasn’t met her goal — a goal to visit every National Park by the time she is 14. “I enjoy going to the parks because I learn about the historical, cultural and environmental relevance they each have,” said Chandler. There are currently 391 National Park areas designated by the National Park Service. For the last six and a half years, Chandler has traveled around the country with her parents, Carmen and Jay Johnson, and participated in the Junior Ranger program.
October 14, 2008 - 9:47am
More than 100,000 miles, two motorcars, 48 states and 270 national parks later, 12-year-old Chandler Johnson still hasn’t met her goal — a goal to visit every National Park by the time she is 14. “I enjoy going to the parks because I learn about the historical, cultural and environmental relevance they each have,” said Chandler. There are currently 391 National Park areas designated by the National Park Service. For the last six and a half years, Chandler has traveled around the country with her parents, Carmen and Jay Johnson, and participated in the Junior Ranger program.
Climate warms, creatures head for the hills
October 14, 2008 - 9:44am
From California to Costa Rica, rising temperatures could be driving species to higher elevations Chipmunks, mice and other small mammals pretty much moved up in the world as Yosemite National Park’s climate warmed during the last century. As temperatures rose, these species tended to edge upward to higher and cooler ground, says Craig Moritz, director of the Museum of Vertebrate Zoology in Berkeley, Calif. The possibility that climate change is pushing around sensitive species has been worrying biologists, so Moritz and his colleagues found a way to test the idea over an unusually long time. They resurrected the museum’s trove of field notes and revisted sites of a mammal survey that started in 1914.
October 14, 2008 - 9:44am
From California to Costa Rica, rising temperatures could be driving species to higher elevations Chipmunks, mice and other small mammals pretty much moved up in the world as Yosemite National Park’s climate warmed during the last century. As temperatures rose, these species tended to edge upward to higher and cooler ground, says Craig Moritz, director of the Museum of Vertebrate Zoology in Berkeley, Calif. The possibility that climate change is pushing around sensitive species has been worrying biologists, so Moritz and his colleagues found a way to test the idea over an unusually long time. They resurrected the museum’s trove of field notes and revisted sites of a mammal survey that started in 1914.
Lassen Peak: a living laboratory of volcanic activity
October 13, 2008 - 3:54pm
The southernmost mountain in the Cascades was established as a national park in 1916. Today, Lassen is one of the best-kept secrets in the federal system. Its 10,457-foot namesake mountain dominates the western section of the park, while to the east, cinder cones rise above a lava plateau and small lakes dot the pine forests.
October 13, 2008 - 3:54pm
The southernmost mountain in the Cascades was established as a national park in 1916. Today, Lassen is one of the best-kept secrets in the federal system. Its 10,457-foot namesake mountain dominates the western section of the park, while to the east, cinder cones rise above a lava plateau and small lakes dot the pine forests.
Local Tourism Will Get Boost from Historic Site
October 9, 2008 - 3:47pm
The Auburn-Opelika area is expected to get a boost in tourism from the opening of a completely redesigned Tuskegee Airman National Historic Site, operated by the National Park Service just down I-85 from Auburn in the nearby city of Tuskegee.
October 9, 2008 - 3:47pm
The Auburn-Opelika area is expected to get a boost in tourism from the opening of a completely redesigned Tuskegee Airman National Historic Site, operated by the National Park Service just down I-85 from Auburn in the nearby city of Tuskegee.
Visitors Flock to Sandburg Home for Poetry, Goats and Hiking Trails
October 9, 2008 - 3:37pm
When the Carl Sandburg Home National Historic Site was established 40 years ago, the mission was to preserve legacy and literary works of Pulitzer Prize-winning author Carl Sandburg. His modest home was kept intact with all the furnishings, magazines and newspapers in place when Sandburg died in 1967. National Park Service staff designed interpretive tours of the home, and public programs were given at the dairy goat farm that Sandburg's wife, Lilian, operated.
October 9, 2008 - 3:37pm
When the Carl Sandburg Home National Historic Site was established 40 years ago, the mission was to preserve legacy and literary works of Pulitzer Prize-winning author Carl Sandburg. His modest home was kept intact with all the furnishings, magazines and newspapers in place when Sandburg died in 1967. National Park Service staff designed interpretive tours of the home, and public programs were given at the dairy goat farm that Sandburg's wife, Lilian, operated.
