We didn’t set out to get all these badges in one trip, but we did. It was a lot of driving, but oh so worth it. Good audiobooks helps! We were blessed with magnificent weather and a beautiful time. Plus, driving through the Superior National Forest (They were out of their "general" badges.), we saw a couple moose and a bear.

Spreadsheet of this info here.

Grand Portage

Teens are supposed to do this full printable booklet. It has a maze, a shopping list, unscrambling words, identifying artifacts, and the overall favorite a Mad Libs! The park itself was worth the drive. There is a reenactment village and a great view of Lake Superior.

Mississippi River

There are two booklets at the site in the Science Museum in St. Paul. The first is a pick-up and take along. They want you to complete the entire book, and it’s quite simple. Label the erosion of a waterfall, connect the items needed for activities, cross out pollution in the water, and identify animals of the Mississippi.

The second can only be done exploring the small museum at the site. You should also complete the entire booklet although one page was no longer applicable. The items are straight forward–do a dot-to-dot, practice tying two kevels together. My favorite (although many find it hard) was to locate landmarks from an eagle-eye view on a giant floor map.

North Country

We were excited to get this badge. The kids’ great-grandfather used to call the parlor the North Country. Maybe because it was the coldest room in the house? I don’t know. There are multiple states to complete the activities. Thought we could grab this at St. Croix in Wisconsin, but it’s a mail in. Came quicker than they said though. The printable booklet has questions like counting the blazes, drawing what you see, a scavenger hunt, marking a map, and filling in the blanks.

Pipestone

This is an 18 page mini-book that you can request by mail ahead of time. It has a hidden pictures page, a page to compare the softness and hardness of rocks, a bingo, and a place to draw petroglyphs and write a story about them. It kept us busy through lunch. It appears there were additional activities at one time that are no longer available due to lack of manpower. It doesn’t hurt to look around, listen, and ask.

St. Croix

This printable booklet requires 10 completed activities. There are a few math pages, a maze, a fill-in-the-blank, and a spot to draw your interpretation of a poem. It was less traditional, which means it’s either more fun or less depending on your kids’ opinions.

Voyageurs

This place was magnificent. We were blessed with fantastic weather. There are three booklets to complete at Rainy Lake, two of those can be done at Ash River. It took most of the day at Rainy Lake.

  1. Both sites. The regular book. Bingo page, identify scat, calculate the value of gold, and unscramble words to identify fish.
  2. Both sites. Dark Sky. This is different from our Southern Florida booklet. The badge was specific to Voyageurs. Unscramble words, label the planets, connect the dots to identify constellations, and learn about the Aurora Borealis. (Yeah, that part isn’t done in Florida.)
  3. Rainy Lake Only. Garden Explorer. A booklet identifying the value of medicinal plants to the Ojibwe and the challenge of invasive species. The children did one book together. There’s a required walk through the garden to identify the species. There’s a crossword puzzle, a seek-and-find, and a food chain map to complete.

Spreadsheet here.