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National Park Service Seeks
Campground Hosts
by DAVID & KAY SCOTT | photographs courtesy of National Parks Service
Parks, monuments and other units of the National Park Service depend on volunteers to assist regular staff with a variety of needs including maintenance, interpretation, manning visitor centers and toll stations, field work and more. Volunteer help has become especially important in the current environment of heavy park visitation and reduced NPS staffing.
While some types of park volunteer openings such as interpretation are intermittent, the need for campground hosts is constant. Host positions typically offer a complimentary camp site with water, electric and sewer hookups. In return, volunteers with their own RVs or trailers
are expected to work at least 32 hours per week taking care of check-ins and check-outs, interacting with campers, maintaining a clean campground, assisting with light maintenance, and making rounds of the campground. Work requirements for volunteers vary by park. Larger NPS campgrounds may have more than a single host. Keep in mind openings are subject to variation and not all host sites have electricity and some of the more remote campgrounds are suited for tents, vans and truck campers rather than RVs. Campground hosts in a few parks have access to a furnished cabin resulting in positions for volunteers who do not own RVs.
Echo Park Campground in Dinosaur National Monument
44 MoultrieScene MARCH 2026