Junior Ranger Aida Frey displays some of the hundreds of medallions she has collected on her 332 visits to national parks. Her backpack weighs about 40 pounds. Staff photo/Brian Larsen
Aida Frey is called Sweetheart of the National Parks for good reason.
Aida, along with her mother and father, have driven more than 100,000 miles over the last eight years in their quest to visit some of America’s most unique, protected places.
In that time the Chicago suburb native has visited more than 300 national parks.
To be precise, the Algonquin, Illinois Junior Ranger has been to 331 national parks, but that number is about to go up because she was planning a visit to Isle Royale National Park this past week.
Aida stopped by the Cook County News-Herald on Tuesday, July 9, to talk about her love of America’s national parks and her love of history.
When asked what first stirred her interest in this unusual hobby, she replied that at age 9 she and her parents visited Effigy Mounds in Iowa. It was her first visit to a national park and her interest was further stimulated when two ladies came to her and asked her if she was interested in joining the Junior Ranger program. Little did they know.
Along the way Aida has met some interesting people, including having her picture taken with Common, a Grammy award-winning rapper and Peggy O’Dell, the deputy director of the National Park Service.
She has even written a book about her travels. It’s called, “America, can I have your autograph?”
Junior Rangers don’t get their titles lightly. At most national parks Aida receives a booklet to complete that shows she has learned about the park and its history. Some places require her to complete a series of activities and often pass a test, sharing her answers with a park ranger in order to receive an official Junior Ranger patch and Junior Ranger certificate.
Because she has passed all of the tests and criteria asked of her at each place she has visited, Aida had a vest loaded with badges front and back. She also has a bag that weighs 40 or so pounds filled with other park badges and certificates she has earned over the last eight years.
During summers and long weekends the family is often on an adventure to a new park. “We like to drive so we don’t miss things along the way,” Aida said.
Point of fact, all three of the Freys excitedly asked questions about Father Baraga’s Cross in Schroeder. They passed a sign for it on their way up the shore. They know quite a bit about the legendary Father Baraga from their travels in Michigan and planned to stop and visit the site on Lake Superior on their way back to Illinois. A love of history ripples through this family and radiates in their smiles and words as they talk about the places they have been and the places they will someday visit.
“It’s a great way to spend family time together,” Aida, an only child, said of her mother’s and father’s joint expeditions to fulfill and stimulate her thirst for knowledge.
When she is home Aida is offered to speak to kids in classrooms where she shares her love of history and the importance of learning how to preserve and take care of the environment so the next generation and beyond can enjoy these wonderful places.
She was even asked to speak to a group of people who were sworn in as new citizens of the United States, explaining to them the importance of learning about the history of their new country.
What is your favorite national park? Aida was asked.
“I have visited the lost colony in Raleigh, North Carolina, the site where flight 93 went down, traveled to Yellowstone and seen the animals and natural beauty there. What I’m saying is that every national historical park, every single one of them, is unique and cool. I can’t pick a favorite.”
On November 18, 2017, Aida visited the Cane River Creole National Historical Park in Louisiana, where she was named park ranger for the day.
She keeps a journal of her travels, and with a total of 419 national parks, many of them in remote places like Guam, Hawaii, and Alaska that are only accessible by plane or helicopter, Aida has her work cut out for her in her quest to visit all of them.
As for mom and dad, they are up for many of those visits but Shawn, who is retired, doesn’t like traveling by small plane or helicopter and some of those future sites can only be accessed by those modes of travel.
And mom, who is still teaching kindergarten, seems to side with her husband on leaving the more exotic locations for Aida to chase down.
But that’s in the future. For now, Aida says of her quest, “This is a family thing. But I can’t stop. I’m too committed to seeing all of the national parks.”
A senior this year, Aida will apply to a college near Harpers Ferry in West Virginia, the site where much of the media is created for the country’s national parks. She wants to study filmmaking, learning how to make films for the parks that are updated and more accurate than some that are now being shown, she said.
Beyond that, there is always the dream of becoming the national director of the country’s parks. And if that happens, she already has ideas to add more places and lands to the list of parks. When it comes to preserving history, places and lands, or losing them, the sweetheart of the national parks would prefer that more, not less, is better.
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