Volunteer Camp Hosts

[Nameless Range]

Up until a couple years ago, I was unaware that many if not most of the National Forest Campgrounds in Montana, and I assume nationwide, are maintained and ran by volunteers over the busy summer months. I saw this on my FB feed this morning and it made me think of that.



Last summer we stayed at the Bad Medicine Campground along the Bull River in NW Montana, and I struck up a conversation with the gal who was the volunteer campground host for the summer. She was retired and from some eastern state I can't remember. Pretty interesting job, and somewhat thankless. Dealing with trash, firewood thieves, rowdy drunks, and the occasional bears. It's not something I was even aware of till then, but maybe someday if retirement ever comes it would be a cool thing to do. I definitely appreciate them. Working with a volunteer fire department myself and talking to this campground host gets me thinking of a Norman Maclean quote:

"A mystery of the universe is how it has managed to survive with so much volunteer help."


Any HuntTalkers ever been a volunteer campground host?

 

[hank4elk]

It has become very common with budget cuts and do more for less attitude from admin's.
The parks & campgrounds I worked relied on them for years. My eyes & ears when I was not in the park.
Had some great ones & some terrible ones.

Most every NF campground has them now.Most every office is run by them & seasonal staff.
Contracting out saved no $ and provided little no no jobs that produce income for the folks doing the work outside of a free campsite for some and part time pay.

 

[BigHornRam]

I 've thought that would be a fun way to spend a summer upon retirement. This campsite would make my short list if I could choose.

https://g.co/kgs/4GTcIc

 

[406LIFE]

My parents just retired and were going to do it in St Regis area, until they decided to go to Alaska for 4 months. They say they will do it next year.

 

[hank4elk]

My favorites were a couple from Missouri. He was a one arm vet genius & his hairdresser wife.They would spend the winter in our coast campground & spend the summer in other parks. She was the best pie maker & a mouth only a sailors mom could appreciate.He could just plain outwork half the co-workers of mine. They stayed in my park for 5 years. They left after I was transferred.

 

[Nameless Range]

Very cool. I bet many of the folks who volunteer have interesting stories and perspectives. I also bet being a campground host a good way to meet a lot of your fellow Americans.

 

[BlakeA]

I've met some great people that were camp hosts. Most if not all of them have been retired couples that loved the outdoors and traveling. I met a couple on the OR coast a few years ago that had been doing it for over 10 years. They go somewhere new every year and had some really cool stories of places they have been. I believe you get a free campsite for the season? Some of the people and things they have to deal with isn't something that most would enjoy but I think it would be a pretty cool retirement experience.

 

[jryoung]

I've met some really nice folks. Two years ago in Idaho the hosts were really interested in my moose tag and really tried to help. The wife was also feeding the local chipmunks 9 lives cat food and the poor little things were so fat they left drag marks on the ground like a reptile. A jackpot for sure to any raptor.

 

[Straight Arrow]

A retired relative did several stints as a campground host at places where he could fish during off hours. He had great stories and really enjoyed the experiences until one winter season in Arizona when he had to call the sheriff almost every weekend due to disrespectful boisterous partying campers who threatened him and ruined it for everyone. It appeared to be the norm at that and other nearby campgrounds. He decided to hang up the camp host gig and just goes fishing on his own now.

 

[Gellar]

Most state parks and county parks that have camping do something very similar. Most provide a camping spot with electric/sewer hook up for the season in exchange for taking registrations and cleaning the bathroom a couple times a day. I have worked with several campground/park hosts who sell there house after retirement and volunteer in the northern latitudes during the Summer and move to a park in the South in the Wintertime.

 

[JohnCushman]

We had a great camp host where we were on our first HT bear hunt. Chuck was a great old guy and hung out with us a lot and had stories all day long. I stayed a few days after the group left and hung out with Chuck and we fished and and ate together and had a couple days of fun. It was a great experience and he said he loved doing it.