By Gabby Sherwood, Communications Associate
A typical summer day at Hidden Valley is bustling with excitement and education: park rangers lead popup programs, visitors enjoy lunch at the picnic tables, and children proudly don their Junior Ranger badges.
For 12 weeks each summer, the official Junior Ranger Headquarters of Rocky Mountain National Park (RMNP) is open at Hidden Valley and serves nearly 40,000 visitors each year.
Rocky’s Junior Ranger program is unique because it’s one of the few across the National Park Service that has a designated Junior Ranger headquarters location and offers three different Junior Ranger activity books tailored to specific age ranges: ages 5 and under, ages 6 to 8, and ages 9 and up.
Supported by Rocky Mountain Conservancy, the booklets and badges are free and available across all park visitor centers and Hidden Valley.
This popular program draws in many to earn their badge: In 2025, RMNP staff awarded Junior Ranger badges to over 31,000 visitors at Rocky.
While targeting youth, the program is not limited to children; it’s designed for the entire family to enjoy together, and folks of all ages are welcome to participate.
“We have lots of adults of all ages that didn’t get to do this as a kid who are very excited to become a Junior Ranger during their visit to Rocky,” said RMNP Education and Outreach Program Manager Kurt Baze, who manages the Junior Ranger program.
The RMNP education team’s goal is to offer programs that engage the whole family. The Junior Ranger explorer bags, which contain hands-on activities and field observation tools, are available for anyone to use at Hidden Valley.
Parents can learn alongside their children about the park’s ecology by identifying animal tracks and scat and measuring soil and water temperature.
“Junior Rangers gives the children ownership and responsibility to take care of our planet and national parks,” said Larissa, a parent of three Junior Rangers. “It makes them feel important and that they can make a difference.”
A child’s life-long passion for protecting national parks starts with their understanding of it, and Junior Rangers is creating future park stewards through engaging, educational experiences.
“Education and kids are the future,” said Baze. “I’ve been an educator my whole life and have seen that when kids and their parents learn about and appreciate the park, they are much more likely to be excited about protecting it for future generations.”
Rocky Mountain Conservancy is proud to support Junior Rangers through our Next Generation Fund and is committed to the continuation of essential educational opportunities for youth and families.