In 2024, 331.9 million people visited US national parks. That included the official parks that you know and love (looking at you, Yellowstone and Yosemite), but it also included visitors to national forests, seashores, monuments, wildlife refuges, historic sites, conservation areas, and more, all of which are public lands that fall under the National Park Service, or NPS.
With visitor numbers like that, it’s paramount that our parks have a system in place so that trails stay maintained, streams are clean, and visitor centers are staffed to assist with the flow of traffic.
Thanks to some 138,000 volunteers per year that’s possible. And would you believe it if we told you it’s super easy to get out there and devote a bit of your time to the greatest outdoors that the US has to offer?
Not only do you feel the satisfaction of being a steward of our national parks, volunteering also typically grants you free access to the parks and sites—not an easy feat when we’re talking about the Grand Canyons, Zions, and Great Smoky Mountains of the world. Win, win.
Here are a few ways you can get involved in our national parks.
Volunteer
Opportunities to volunteer at your local national park—or one far away that you’ve been dreaming of visiting—are virtually limitless through its Volunteers-In-Parks (VIP) program. Work can include visitor services, planting trees, maintaining trails, hosting a campground, clearing invasive species, and more.
The NPS also makes it incredibly easy to sign up. Only have a single day to contribute? No problem. Looking for a year-long position? Also cool. Visiting on your own? That works. Bringing the kids or an entire group? There’s work for everyone. Whether you’re looking to help out in the next couple of weeks or several months down the road, the NPS likely has a spot for you.
If you know exactly where you’d like to volunteer, contact the park directly to see how you can help out. (NPS also encourages you to reach out if you’re volunteering with children or someone with a disability to confirm that the park has accessibility measures in place.)
Search for a park to learn about its volunteer options using this NPS map; you can also Google opportunities easily by formatting your internet search like this: [national park name] NPS volunteer
For example, “Mount Rainier National Park NPS volunteer” or “Biscayne National Park NPS volunteer.”
On the other hand, if you don’t know where you’d like to volunteer but you’re open to possibilities, you can find opportunities through Volunteer.gov or the NPS volunteer events calendar.
Volunteer.gov
On Volunteer.gov, you can filter by NPS volunteer opportunities and see hundreds of posted positions of ways that you can help out. (Virtual opportunities are also available).
Note that some of these positions are long-term stints (think several months to a year), perfect if you’re seeking a healthy dose of the outdoors. At the time of writing, some long-term positions include:
- Mount Rainier wilderness ranger assistant (Washington): Help maintain trails, issue permits, and more from mid-May to mid-October (dates flexible).
- Indiana Dunes monarch monitoring (Indiana): Record butterfly activities for conservation efforts from now through September.
- Death Valley campground host (California): Assist with visitor reservations for the peak camping season between October 2024 and January 2025 (3-month commitment required)
Sift through the results, and you’ll uncover plenty of short-term opportunities as well. E.g.:
- Mammoth Cave Earth Day litter cleanup (Kentucky): Help preserve the natural beauty of Mammoth Cave by helping staff pick up litter along roadways and trails on April 22.
- Show Your Love for Shenandoah (Virginia): Join other volunteers to serve on various projects, including trail maintenance and painting, on May 3.
- Olympic entrance sign gardening (Washington): Beautify the Olympic National Park entrance sign by weeding, mulching, and deadheading on May 13.
All volunteer opportunities require participants to fill out an application for identification and liability purposes. For general placements, you may just need to provide basic contact information, demographics (optional), and an emergency contact, while more advanced placements may require you to provide background information, such as education and skills, as well as references and availability.
View NPS volunteer opportunities at Volunteer.gov.
NPS volunteer events calendar
The NPS volunteer events calendar is a great resource if you have a specific day or time frame that you’re able to volunteer at the parks. For instance, NPS hosts a half dozen annual service days throughout the year, including the birthday of Martin Luther King, Jr., and National Volunteer Week during the third week of April (this week!). If you happen to have off work or school during these periods, you can head to the calendar and learn more about the service opportunities available on those specific days.
For every other day of the year, scroll down to the calendar view, where you can peruse events and service opportunities and filter by state to narrow your search. Events on the calendar include guided tours, beach cleanups, cultural demonstrations, adopt-a-trail events (essentially trail maintenance), and more.
View the NPS volunteer events calendar.
Donate
Donating to the national parks is another way to ensure that the great outdoors remain accessible for generations to come. If you have the means, there are a few places you can channel your financial support.
The National Park Foundation, the official nonprofit partner of the National Park Service, provides support to more than 400 national parks and other NPS sites through grants and programs, such as wildlife conservation, youth engagement, sustainability work, and more—thanks, in large part, to donations. Here’s where you can pledge your support.
If you’re passionate about the preservation of a specific park, you could make a direct donation. Head to the NPS page of your chosen park, click the “Get Involved” drop-down menu, select “Donate,” and learn about the various organizations that support that national park.
Visit and protect
If you aren’t able to volunteer but still want to be a steward of our parks, visiting is another good way to do it. It’s no secret that our parks are experiencing challenges. Due to reductions in funding and personnel, visitors may encounter reduced hours at visitor centers, longer lines, and limited access to campsites, bathrooms, and popular attractions, among other things.
While support is vital, it’s important to do so respectfully and responsibly. That includes checking the status of parks using online resources, being patient with park staff, respecting trail rules and closures, and always leaving no trace.
There are seven principles of leaving no trace, which can be applied no matter where in the outdoors you are, whether that’s at a national park or your backyard. They’re meant to help minimize your impact and keep nature wild.
The seven principles are:
- Plan ahead & prepare
- Travel & camp on durable surfaces
- Dispose of waste properly
- Leave what you find
- Minimize campfire impacts
- Respect wildlife
- Be considerate of others
For more information on how you can leave no trace and help out our national parks in the process, follow Instagram accounts like @leavenotraceorg, @recreate.responsibly, @nationalparkservice, or the individual pages for your favorite national parks.
Published April 18, 2024
Last updated April 17, 2025
