The National Outdoor Badge for Adventure recognizes Scouts and Venturers who take on big outdoor challenges. It's about building survival skills and completing many adventures that push your limits.
Why it's worth it
Ten big adventures: multi-day treks, climbs, a 50-Miler, a Historic Trails trip, or a trek at a Scouting high-adventure base. This badge is for the Scouts and Venturers who keep saying yes to the hard trip. Along the way you'll build survival, rescue, or emergency skills that make you the steady person when something goes wrong far from help.
Start this week
- Check that you've finished requirement 1: First Class, Sea Scout Apprentice, or Ranger requirements 1-6.
- List the adventures you've already done that might qualify and ask your leader to check them.
- Choose Wilderness Survival, Search and Rescue, or Emergency Preparedness, or a Ranger equivalent, and message a counselor with a parent copied.
- Suggest a high-adventure trip at the next planning meeting so your unit can start saving and training.
Plan ahead: Requirement 3's 10 adventures take most people years. Start a log now with dates and details, and ask your leader which past trips qualify.
Stay safe
- Every adventure follows the Guide to Safe Scouting with trained leaders. Climbing follows Climb On Safely, and water trips follow Safety Afloat.
- Leave a trip plan with someone at home and know your group's emergency plan before you head out.
Requirements · 3
Every official requirement and part, numbered to match Scouting America, in plain language. Sign off against the official wording (opens in a new tab).
- Requirement 1
Earn First Class rank or Sea Scout Apprentice rank, or finish Venturing Ranger Award requirements 1–6
Tip: Make sure you've finished First Class, Sea Scout Apprentice, or the listed Ranger requirements first.
For example: If you've reached First Class or Sea Scout Apprentice, you're set. If you joined Venturing without it, Ranger Award requirements 1-6 build the same base, with core skills like first aid and wilderness survival you'll lean on for every big trip.
- Requirement 2
Finish one of these: the Emergency Preparedness, Search and Rescue, or Wilderness Survival merit badge, or the Ranger Wilderness Survival or Emergency Preparedness core or First Aid elective
Tip: Choose Wilderness Survival, Search and Rescue, or Emergency Preparedness, or a Ranger option. All build key safety skills.
For example: Wilderness Survival teaches shelter, fire, and signaling; Search and Rescue covers how teams find lost people; Emergency Preparedness covers planning for disasters at home and in the community. Choose the one that fits your trips.
- Requirement 3
Complete 10 adventures in Scouting America activities, mixing or repeating the kinds in 3a–3g as you like (your unit leader decides whether one trip that fits several kinds, or doubles one of 3a–3d, counts more than once)
Tip: Keep a log as you work toward 10 qualifying adventures, like multi-day treks, climbs, or a 50-Miler. Plan with experienced leaders and follow safety rules for each activity.
For example: Ten adventures might include a trek at Philmont, Northern Tier, Sea Base, or the Summit, a 50-Miler, earning the Historic Trails Award, a few 3-day backpacking trips of 20+ miles with no resupply, and rock climbing on overnight campouts. Log each with dates and what it involved.
- Requirement 3a
Backpack for 3 or more days and over 20 miles with no food resupply
- Requirement 3b
Canoe, row, or sail for 3 or more days and over 50 miles with no food resupply
- Requirement 3c
Run whitewater for 2 or more days and over 20 miles with no food resupply
- Requirement 3d
Climb on open rock following Climb On Safely, as part of an outing with an overnight campout
- Requirement 3e
Earn the National Historic Trails Award
- Requirement 3f
Earn the 50-Miler Award
- Requirement 3g
Go to a national high-adventure base, or to a local high-adventure or specialty-adventure program that is nationally recognized
Ask yourself
- Which adventure pushed you furthest outside your comfort zone?
- What did you learn about yourself on the hardest day of a trip?
- How did your survival or emergency training change the way you act on trips?
- What adventure is still on your list, and what will it take to get there?
Good questions to ask your Scoutmaster or crew Advisor
- Which of my past trips count as qualifying adventures?
- Which high-adventure base would fit our unit best?
- How should we train and save for a big trip?
- What's the hardest adventure you've done, and what got you through it?
Helpful reads
- Venturing: plan your own adventures, How a Venturing crew works, the four ranks from Venturing to Summit, what officers do, how to plan an adventure, and the national high-adventure bases., Youth · Leaders · 5 min read
- Finding service that matters, Service hours count toward your rank, but the best ones are the ones you'd want to do anyway. Here's how to find them, arrange them, and get the most out of them., Youth · Families · 5 min read
For leaders & parents
- Help Scouts plan and log qualifying adventures over several years.
- Encourage trips to high-adventure bases and 50-Miler or Historic Trails outings.
People & places that can help
- Merit badge counselors — Talk with them early; they can explain what's expected.
- Council high-adventure committee — Can suggest trips and help with planning.
- Scouting America (opens in a new tab) — High-adventure base information.
- National Outdoor Awards (opens in a new tab) — Scouting America's official rules for the National Outdoor Badges and Medal.
- Philmont Scout Ranch (opens in a new tab) — Scouting's backpacking base in New Mexico, with treks through the mountains.
- Northern Tier High Adventure (opens in a new tab) — Scouting's canoe base for multi-day wilderness paddling trips.
- Florida Sea Base (opens in a new tab) — Scouting's aquatic high-adventure base for sailing, snorkeling, and more.
- The Summit Bechtel Reserve (opens in a new tab) — Scouting's base in West Virginia for whitewater, climbing, and more.
Pairs well with
Named in these requirements
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Tips, examples, and questions are ideas from experienced leaders, not extra requirements. Your unit leader or counselor decides when a requirement is complete.