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Bear Habitat

Cub Scouts · Adventure, Required

Printable worksheet (PDF)

Bear Habitat has you plan and take a 1-mile walk using the Leave No Trace Principles for Kids. You'll map your route, look for wildlife signs, and leave nature just as you found it. It's a big step toward being a real outdoor explorer.

Why it's worth it

A one-mile walk sounds simple, but on this adventure you plan it yourself, like a real outdoor explorer. You'll find your route on a map, look for clues that animals live nearby, and learn how to visit nature so it stays wild for the next family that comes along.

Start this week

  1. With your adult, pick a park or nature trail nearby and look it up on a map together.
  2. Gather your Six Essentials in a small backpack and try it on to see if it's comfortable.
  3. Make a list of six animal signs you might spot, like tracks, feathers, nests, or chewed leaves.

Stay safe

  • Stay with your adult and your buddy the whole walk, and watch animals from a distance without touching or feeding them.

Requirements · 9

Every official requirement and part, numbered to match Scouting America, in plain language. Sign off against the official wording (opens in a new tab).

  1. Requirement 1

    Get ready for a 1-mile walk: gather your Cub Scout Six Essentials plus clothes and shoes suited to the weather

    Tip: Check the weather and pack your Six Essentials. Wear comfy shoes for walking.

  2. Requirement 2

    Know Before You Go: find your walk's location on a map and confirm your 1-mile route

    Tip: Use a park map or an online map to trace your route and check that it's 1 mile.

    For example: Open a map of a park with your adult and trace a loop trail with your finger. Use the map's scale bar or a map app's distance tool to check that it adds up to 1 mile.

  3. Requirement 3

    Choose the Right Path: learn about the path you will walk and the area around it

    Tip: Read the trail sign or ask a ranger what plants and animals live there.

  4. Requirement 4

    Trash Your Trash: plan what you will do with your own trash and any you find along the trail

    Tip: Bring a bag for your trash and gloves for picking up litter safely.

  5. Requirement 5

    Leave What You Find: photograph or sketch five things from your walk that you want to remember

    Tip: Take photos or draw sketches instead of picking things.

    For example: Instead of taking a pinecone home, snap a photo of it or sketch it in a notebook. Your five things might be a mushroom, an interesting rock, a flower, a bird's nest, and a cool-shaped tree.

  6. Requirement 6

    Be Careful with Fire: find out the fire danger rating along your path

    Tip: Look for a fire danger sign at the park entrance or ask a ranger.

  7. Requirement 7

    Respect Wildlife: from a safe distance, look up, down, and around to spot six signs of mammals, birds, insects, or reptiles

    Tip: Look for tracks, scat, nests, chewed leaves, or holes, and keep your distance.

    For example: Animal signs can be footprints in mud, a hole in a tree, a spider web, droppings on the trail, or nibbled acorn shells. Point at them from the trail instead of walking up close.

  8. Requirement 8

    Be Kind to Other Visitors: identify how your den can show kindness to other people on the path

    Tip: Stay on the trail, let others pass, and keep voices friendly.

  9. Requirement 9

    Take your 1-mile walk while practicing the Leave No Trace Principles for Kids

    Tip: Take your walk with your den and practice every principle along the way.

Places to visit

Ask an adult to set it up, and go with your family, den, patrol, or crew.

  • A nature center or park visitor center

    Naturalists can show you real animal tracks, skulls, or feathers so you know what to look for on your walk.

    How: Have your adult check the center's website for kids' programs, or call ahead and ask if a naturalist can talk with your den.

Talk about it together

  • What animal sign surprised you the most, and what animal do you think left it?
  • How did you leave the trail better than you found it?
  • What would you pack differently on your next walk?
  • How can you be kind to other people you meet on a trail?

Good questions to ask a park ranger or naturalist

  • What animals live in this park that we might not see during the day?
  • Why is it important to stay on the trail?
  • How do you know if the fire danger is high today?

Helpful reads

For leaders & parents

  • Scout the route ahead of time so you know the distance and any hazards.
  • Assign each scout a Leave No Trace principle to remind the group about on the walk.

People & places that can help

Pairs well with

Counts toward

More Bear adventures

Tips, examples, and questions are ideas from experienced leaders, not extra requirements. Your unit leader or counselor decides when a requirement is complete.