Teen known for visiting national parks stops in Utah


5 photos
Save Story
Leer en español

Estimated read time: 1-2 minutes

This archived news story is available only for your personal, non-commercial use. Information in the story may be outdated or superseded by additional information. Reading or replaying the story in its archived form does not constitute a republication of the story.

AMERICAN FORK CANYON — A teenager known around the country for visiting national parks made several stops in Utah this weekend.

Junior Ranger Aida Frey first visited a national park in Iowa when she was 9 years old. On Friday, Aida made a stop at Timpanogos Cave National Monument.

Aida, a Chicago native, has visited 276 national parks in just seven years. The 16-year-old is currently on a three-week visit to the west and plans to visit 23 national parks on her trip.

In 2010, Aida received her first Junior Ranger badge. After receiving the badge, she set a goal to visit all 417 locations in the U.S. operated by the National Park Service. As a result, Aida has become an unofficial spokesperson for the Junior Ranger program.

Aida has even written a book recounting her experiences over the past six years in America’s national parks.

One reason she’s made it to so many national parks — her family always drives instead of flying on trips, she said.

“I thought the cave was absolutely beautiful,” Aida said. “I have been to many caves and this one was really different because we did have to hike 3 miles round trip but it was worth it. It was all worth it.”

Aida’s book, "America, Can I Have Your Autograph?", is available on Amazon.

Photos

Most recent Utah stories

Related topics

UtahOutdoors
Sam Penrod

    STAY IN THE KNOW

    Get informative articles and interesting stories delivered to your inbox weekly. Subscribe to the KSL.com Trending 5.
    By subscribing, you acknowledge and agree to KSL.com's Terms of Use and Privacy Policy.

    KSL Weather Forecast