Some very basic workcamping questions

We are in our first wk experience. It's a 4 month commitment (no contract so we could leave tomorrow if we wanted to). It's 2 days on 6 off. For that we get site, water, sewer, electric, laundry and WiFi. This park is very nice, the owners are young and take great pride in their park.
I
escort rigs to sites
Clear sites when vacated
Clean showers, laundry
Check pump house and record water use
I also get 1 chore per day (usually very simple like wash the shower curtains in shower house)
Deliver mail


War dept
Runs office
Answers phone
Retreveaves on line reservations
Checks in new arrivals
Keeps track of long term (monthly) rentals
Sorts mail
Other basic office duties

The only thing we did not get upfront is ..what is a day? Turns out it starts at 7:30 stops at 9:00. Real work is 8:30 to 6:00 but your required to run the park with cart at 7:30, and again at 7:30 in the evening, on call until 9 pm.
You work through lunch and can't leave the park on your days.
The work itself is not difficult but it is 2 long days.

Bottom line get it all upfront

These jobs are almost always acquired on line. There are no interviews. We applied for this position while in Alaska, the park is in west texas.
Do it again heck ya

Naio wrote:

donn0128 wrote:
One of the parks we host at has 6 to 8 hosts each month.

Wow! I had no idea. I was picturing the little FS camgrounds I have stayed in where there was sometimes one host, more often none.

I've been to a couple of larger state parks where the campground map showed two (not one) camp host spots, but that's the max.

When you have 6 or 8 do you all camp together, in a side loop or something? I am wondering why I have never seen this.

Thanks so much for the detailed work descriptions!

If you use forest service campgrounds you might also be seeing the host as being employed by a concessioner. In that case, he is usually the one to clean the toilets, sell firewood, pick up trash, clean out the firepits, etc. He probably is a paid employee, not a volunteer.

As stated, each place is different so all you can do is ask questions when you apply. We never had to clean bathrooms in our volunteering with national or state parks but again, each is different. Usually national parks have a maintenance dept. which does bathrooms. You may have to go in periodically throughout the day to see if toilet paper needs replacing, to pick up trash. If there's a major problem, there's usually a phone number to call to get it taken care of...but that's a national park. Some state parks work the same way.

Interviews? All of our gigs, except for one, were obtained when we were actually in the park. If we liked the area and park, we asked if they needed any help at that time or in the near future. One position through Oregon State Parks was an interpretative position giving lighthouse tours. For that one, we were interviewed by telephone.

Good luck! Volunteers are always needed and they really appreciate you....more so than a paid employee. :) Also keep in mind that what you're asking about is called a volunteer rather than a workcamper which is 'usually' paid. Camp hosts can either be volunteers or workcampers.

Also, some of our positions had us parked in different areas of the campground and sometimes we didn't even have a 'sign' by our place stating that we were volunteers. So you really never know how many volunteers a park may have, depending on the size of the park. Also, some parks have a 'hidden' parking space for the volunteers so you sometimes don't even see it. Sneaky, huh?

Make sure you have them spell out the exact duties. They vary greatly! One place I applied wanted 20 hours a week in exchange for a full-hookup site, BUT the only hours that counted were the ones when a guest actually arrived and you had to run out of your trailer to tend to registration. The rest of the time you were "on call", which really meant 24-7! Don't forget to ask what amenities are provided -- for example, you may not get internet.

Start stopping at parks, refuges, etc. and ask if they use volunteers, introduce yourself and start finding out what they need and where the volunteer sites are. You can also talk to the current volunteers to see what they have to say. The more volunteer coordinators you meet, the easier to find a position. Also be prepared to give references.

We've also been doing it for 6 years and learning more about what questions to ask and what facilities help - do you have access to washing machine/dryer, how are the bugs, closest shopping, traffic noise, shared refrigerator space, etc. We have done visitor centers, gift shops, trail maintenance, building maintenance, trailhead clean-up including bathrooms, special events, etc.

Our first volunteer camp hosting spot was a North Florida State Park 20 hrs per week. There were 8 host sites 4 were in camping loops, 4 were secluded separated from camping areas though not together.
Now is a good time to apply for next year https://www.floridastateparks.org/get-involved/volunteer
Getting volunteer positions in South Florida SP's is difficult, same volunteers return year after year although you can get lucky if a returning vol has health problems and cancels.
Another good possibility are the National Forests and USFWS you can search for them here:https://www.volunteer.gov/
again it is not too early to apply but good to contact either state of federal VC's directly by phone in mid April after all the snowbird volunteers have returned north. By that time they will know which of their volunteers plan on returning and which they want back.
We have had 13 volunteer positions in the 5 1/2 years we've been fulltime in 6 different states and enjoyed them all. We do plan at least 6 mos in advance and sometimes a year.

Good Luck

In the park I cited, there are three loops with a total of about 140 sites. As a greeter host we are responsible for about 40 sites. Sounds like a lot, but in reality that means maybe two of three hours.

As Don has replied, volunteer positions in public parks could be more flexible with duty and less demanding of physical effort, than positions in private. The trade off is you spend more time on duty, with no compensation for time beyond the agreement.
Many Private parks and seasonal businesses offer site, perks like included laundry, propane , for less time on the job. Work scheduling and duty likely more demanding, often paid hours worked for time beyond agreement .
Where duty is concerned, make sure your will do wont dos are clear, & why. If the duty is easy, like wallpaper, expect to hang around a lot with little to do.
If the duty asks for labor or mgmt. skills, housekeeping, etc., then you have the bargaining chip.
Expect with any workcamping position that the camp and you must adhere to all IRS regulations for the value given in a barter exchange to be exempt from income.
Max

donn0128 wrote:
One of the parks we host at has 6 to 8 hosts each month.

Wow! I had no idea. I was picturing the little FS camgrounds I have stayed in where there was sometimes one host, more often none.

I've been to a couple of larger state parks where the campground map showed two (not one) camp host spots, but that's the max.

When you have 6 or 8 do you all camp together, in a side loop or something? I am wondering why I have never seen this.

Thanks so much for the detailed work descriptions!

One of the parks we host at has 6 to 8 hosts each month.
Greeter hosts do general camp site cleanup, litter pick up, check and restock paper products in the bathrooms. Possible some lawn mowing and sprinklers.
Store host operates the store and backs up greeter host on days off.
Maintenance host, builds fences, paints, prunes trees etc.
There is a maintenance host that fixes machinery, etc.
Cabin hosts clean cabins and backup greeter host in their area.
All hosts are asked to work 20 hours each for a couple, 30 hours for a single.
5 days on, 2 days off each week.
There is always work for people that want to do more,including grass mowing painting, things like that. Parks always have lots of things that need doing. We, or I have helped snaking sewer lines, cleaned bathrooms, mowed grass, pruned trees cleared brush, planted grass, watered grass. Basically anything that needs doing we will jump in and do it. Parks are like small cities, so there is always work to do.

Remember, this only applies to Oregon State Parks. California parks for instance are horrible and demand a lot more from their volunteers I have heard. Each state, and in fact each park will have different jobs and rules. We just completed our fourth summer on the OSP system and have loved all but one experience.

donn0128 wrote:
No
Yes
It all depends
Of course this all depends on what kind of work camping your looking for. Paid or volunteer????
We volunteer with the state parks system. Within the system there is a wide variety of positions available. From cleaning cabins. Park maintenance, to equipment maintenance. There are few mandatory jobs, but rather you do what you can and want to do.
Paid positions are usually quite different. Just like any other job, there will be assigned duties and pay for doing those tasks.

Thank you!!!

I'm interested in volunteer jobs, probably camp hosting.

I am very surprised to hear that the jobs are so flexible. Can you tell me more about that? Do the parks you are at have multiple volunteers and you all divvy up the work according to preferences? Or does stuff just not get done, if you are the only workers?