Earn the Exploration Merit Badge

Exploration, the BSA’s newest merit badge, is designed to celebrate your spirit of adventure.

After learning about the history and importance of exploration — like when Eagle Scout Paul Siple traveled to Antarctica or when Eagle Scout Neil Armstrong landed on the moon — you will prepare for and go on an actual expedition.

Don’t worry; you don’t have to go to Mount Everest or the Marianas Trench. You only have to plan and take a trip to somewhere of interest to you. It can be close by or far away. It can be a troop activity or a small-scale excursion.

Once there, you have to study something. You can analyze a location’s animal population, classify plant species at a state park or explore the effects of drought on an area.

The primary goal is to learn something — and have fun doing it.

For a complete list of requirements for the Exploration merit badge, visit scouting.org.