"Yes we can!" These new Junior Rangers earned their patches and certificates

It’s hard to believe, but summer’s already on our doorstep. Your little ones (ages 6-12) are likely already getting restless for school to end and vacation to begin. Have you made any family plans yet?  Sure, you could spend a million-and-one bucks and go to a theme park just to stand in line for eight hours in exchange for maybe thirty minutes of excitement; or you could spend just ten dollars (per child) and come to Twin Lakes State Park for one of our Junior Ranger programs and get rewarded with six full hours of fun and games, while learning useful skills to master the outdoors.

Our Junior Ranger program has been such a popular and successful program in the past that we are expanding it this year to include five additional dates. Junior Rangers spend the day with our experienced, knowledgeable interpretive staff, learning many valuable and exciting skills. Each program will be slightly different but each will provide six full hours of great activities for your child as he or she earns his very own Junior Ranger badge.

Here are four reasons why our Junior Ranger program is better than other typical vacation options:

The coolest water rides at Twin Lakes State Park

#1. Sure, you could wait in line forty minutes for a water ride that lasts twenty seconds, but wouldn’t it be cooler for your child to learn how to ride the water on his or her own? One of the staples of our Junior Ranger program is a Canoeing 101 lesson that will have your child learning how to paddle his or her own canoe in no time, a skill which can pay off many vacations down the road.

"I shot bows and arrows, Mom!"

#2. Sure, you could blow a hundred bucks watching your child shoot softballs into doctored milk cans in order to win a ten-cent goldfish that won’t even make it past the hour, but wouldn’t it be cooler if he or she learned how to shoot a bow and arrow instead? Our interpreters are master marksmen and will have your child hitting the target in no time. This skill teaches both the strength of precision and the wisdom of accuracy. 

It is loads of fun!

There is definitely a big fish story here

#3.  Sure, you could spend a billion Bozo Bucks on a Fish Filet sandwich and feed your child for an hour, but wouldn’t it be cooler if she learned how to catch dinner for the rest of her life? Our master anglers will have your child learning how to cast, set, and catch fish in no time.

"We did it, we found the treasure"

#4.  Sure, you could waste hours trying to find the Ferris Wheel in Candyland only to realize that you needed to make a right on Maple Sugar Lane instead of that left at Cotton Candy Crossing, but wouldn’t it be cooler to learn how to Geocache? Utilizing space-age technology, this modern day scavenger hunt game will teach your child many useful skills, from how to read a compass to using a GPS device. With these skills your child just might survive the impending zombie apocalypse*.

And if you really wanted to make it a special vacation, stay with us in a cabin or campsite  

With 33 campsites 7 cabins and a lodge, we have the accommodations to meet your needs. This year, Twin Lakes State Park is part of a pilot program allowing less than a week stay in a cabin during the peak season: summer and fall months (details here). So you can stay overnight for just a few nights or a week. 

And as an added bonus, the swimming is free for overnight guests during the summer; so Mom can go get a tan, Dad can go catch supper, and the kids can have a vacation they’ll remember for the rest of their lives. 

Twin Lakes State Park is near Farmville, about an hour southwest of Richmond. To get here, take U.S. 360 West of Burkeville to Route 613 (Indian Springs Rd.). Then go east on Route 629 (Twin Lakes Rd.). Its address is 788 Twin Lakes Rd., Green Bay, VA 23942-2525 (click here for a map and driving directions).

Drive Time: Northern Virginia, three to four hours; Richmond, one to one and a half hours; Tidewater/ Norfolk/ Virginia Beach, two and a half to three hours; Roanoke, three hours.

*Archery helps, too.