Discover winter’s forest wonders: Become a Junior Snow Ranger at Mt. Bachelor

BEND, Ore. (KTVZ) – The Deschutes National Forest, Discover Your Forest and Mt. Bachelor invite you to discover forest wonders and learn about the importance of our winters while earning a Junior Snow Ranger badge. Families learn together at this free event hosted at Mt. Bachelor.

The Junior Snow Ranger events run from 11:00 a.m. to 1:00 p.m. on Sunday, February 19, and Sunday, March 26. Interested families can join forest rangers at the Snowshoe Hut located at Mt. Bachelor’s West Village base area. 

The Junior Snow Ranger event is designed for children in fourth and fifth grade; however, activities are appropriate for kids ages seven to 11. Outdoor activities include how to safely explore in the winter, wildlife track identification, learning about the subnivean layer, and snow’s incredible journey. If conditions allow, families may also get to explore fresh snowflakes, complete a forest scavenger hunt, and engage in fun, hands-on learning outside.

The program’s mission is to inspire youth to embrace a life-long relationship with the winter environment and to become stewards of the land. It is a family program and adults are encouraged to play alongside their kids. Families can drop in or stay for the duration of the program. If families wish to try snowshoeing after the event snowshoe rangers will offer a free snowshoe tour at 1:00 p.m. for participants 8 years and older. The public snowshoe tour is about one and a half miles out & back, lasts about 90 minutes, and includes information about natural history topics that relate to the surrounding high Cascades.

The event is free; however, donations are greatly appreciated to support Discover Your Forest’s free education and interpretation programs throughout the Deschutes and Ochoco National Forests.

For questions, please contact Laken Bosé Education and Interpretive Programs Manager at (541) 383-5557 or laken.bose@discovernw.org.