Utah: Junior Ranger at Great Salt Lake Marina

At five, the best thing in the world may very well be to become a Junior Ranger. Every state and national park we visit, Bria checks with the staff to see if they have a program.

During our stop at Great Salt Lake State Marina outside of Salt Lake City, she was so excited to find they did!

Junior Ranger programs teach children to "Explore, Learn and Protect" our National Parks. The programs are activity-based, usually including a park-specific workbook filled with ways to learn about the park.

The workbook at the Great Salt Lake Marina included some sensory activities that were a big hit (sit quietly and look, listen, smell, etc. then write down what you sensed), along with a word search, drawing, and bird identifying. These booklets are a fantastic way to move from the backseat to fully engaged in the environment.

Children complete a set number of activities based on their age (younger children do a few pages of the booklet, older children complete the entire thing), along with additional interactive activities. Sometimes they are asked to pick up litter, or attend a ranger talk.

While she was exploring, she even made friends with a small snake!

After doing all of the outside activities, she moved inside to view a movie about the Great Salt Lake (she was very intrigued by the concept of being able to float in the water without swimming), then shared her answers with the Park Ranger.

Following the execution of the Junior Ranger oath, she was awarded a badge and congratulated on her new role. She is always proud to add a new badge to her collection!

Junior Ranger programs are almost always free (we have once or twice run into ones that required a small donation - Yellowstone, for example), and are an excellent way to build curiosity in young travelers.