Just For Kids

While visiting Virgin Islands National Park, don’t forget to stop in the Park's Visitor Center at Cruz Bay. Ask a Ranger at the desk how you can become a Junior Ranger. After completing the requirements, you’ll be awarded the Junior Ranger program certificate and badge; what a nice accomplishment!

The exhibits at the Visitor Center are big and colorful. Maybe your favorite will be about coral. Everyone likes to look at the 3-D map on a large table. Watch out! Dolphins are watching you from the ceiling!

In the Visitor Center there’s a small store operated by Eastern National. Eastern National provides educational products that are relevant to the theme of the park. There are post cards, kids' books and toy animals. Another store, operated by the Friends of Virgin Islands National Park, is just a short walk away from the Visitor Center, at Mongoose Junction. Either store might have just the right souvenir for you to buy to help remind you of your visit to the Park.

Of course the best part of a visit to Virgin Islands National Park is being OUTDOORS! Among other things, we have lots of plants and animals that you probably don't have in your backyard. This camouflaged lizard is probably a young iguana.

You can learn about people who lived in the Virgin Islands long ago. There are 200-year-old ruins from Danish overseers and enslaved Africans. Even older petroglyphs made by the ancient Taino are hidden in the forest.

Oops! If you trip over a rock, it was probably made by the volcano that started building the island about 100 MILLION years ago. Wow; that was during dinosaur time! (Sorry, no dinosaurs ever lived on the Virgin Islands.) See that almost level layer of rock below the reddish rock? It might be what's called a "sill," caused by newer lava pushing into a crack in older rock.

Virgin Islands National Park, like many National Parks, has dark night skies. When your eyes adapt to the darkness, you may see the Milky Way and stars that you don't see at home. This picture shows the Southern Cross constellation, visible in our night skies during busy visitor seasons.

The Virgin Islands National Park is known for beautiful beaches. You can swim in turquoise water, explore coral reefs and sea grasses by snorkeling, and build castles in the sand.

Be A Junior Ranger

There is always something for both kids and adults to do together, while visiting Virgin Islands National Park. To help protect the natural and cultural resources of St. John, you are welcome to join the Junior Ranger program on St. John. Come along and join the fun!

During your sightseeing, stop by the Visitor Center and pick up a Junior Ranger workbook. Workbook exercises include "interviews" with trees, word searches, games and a natural hike. At the end, return to the Visitor Center, show your workbook to a Ranger, who will award you with a Junior Ranger program certificate and badge; congratulations!