Program Overview
Trail Life USA partners with churches and parents across America as the premier national character development organization for young men which produces generations of godly and responsible husbands, fathers, and citizens. In over 850 churches in all 50 states, fathers and sons are connecting, relationships are deepening, and legacies are beginning as a new generation of godly leaders rises up.
Woodlands Trail (Kindergarten - 5th Grade)
Adventure is at the heart of the Trail Life USA program. Boys love hiking, camping, fishing, tree-climbing, story-telling, and s'mores around campfires. Weekly meetings are designed with that in mind. Held outside whenever possible, meetings are designed to delight the raucous, rowdy, unruly nature of a boy. Young Trailmen engage in hands-on experiences that develop character, deepen faith, and hone practical skills in the seven program branches (Outdoor Skills, Life Skills, Heritage, Hobbies, Values, Science & Technology, and Sports & Fitness).
Boys also love stickers, patches, pins, and awards. Each week as boys meet in their patrols, they work on a Branch Step as part of a planned meeting or a "Hit the Trail!" adventure. As Branches are completed, pins are added to the Branch Patch. Each branch builds the structure of the Branch Patch boys wear on their uniform. In each patrol level, when all seven Branches are complete, boys earn The Forest Award.
Along the trail boys engage with older boys in the Troop and with mentors who are vetted by church leadership, background checked every year, and must complete extensive Child Safety and Youth Protection Training.
Navigators and Adventurers (6th - 12th grade)
When a boy moves from the Woodlands Trail to the Navigators program, he receives his Standard, a hiking pole that he will develop over the next 6-7 years in the program. As a boy grows in understanding and wisdom and develops the character and leadership skills that will propel him into manhood, he adorns his Standard with Trail Badges and Advancement Medallions. Each Trail Badge represents a milestone in understanding or the development of a skill.
In Trail Life USA, skills universally needed for godly manhood are developed through required Trail Badges as boys earn the ranks of Able and Ready, as well as the Journey, Horizon, and Freedom Awards. Elective Trail Badges help a Trailman explore unique areas of gifting and come to understand the way God has specially created him.
Trail Life has even created a unique Design-Your-Own-Badge program where Trailmen can work within a provided framework alongside a mentor to develop a Badge that is unique to their specific interests. The Periodic Table of Advancements gives an overview of the knowledge and skills Trailmen develop as part of the Navigators and Adventurers programs on the path to Freedom.
The Trail Life USA advancement program is distinct for many reasons. First and foremost, it is designed to honor biblical values in every aspect of the program. Trail Life USA is not just an outdoor program that incorporates a Christian experience. Trail Life is at its core a Christ-centered program that utilizes the outdoors to draw boys and their families into a closer relationship with their creator.
A Christian worldview is integrate into every part of the program because it is critical to both our mission and vison as well as the the spiritual growth of every Trailman who commits himself to the values we uphold. In the Navigators and Adventurers programs, the Branches from the Woodlands Trail program become Frontiers to be explored as Trailmen continue along the trail.