All About Camp Hosting
Loren and I had no idea what camp hosting was when we applied for our first position with Oregon State Parks. We'd seen camp hosts in parks, but thought you had to be retired to do it. In truth, most of the hosts we've worked with have been retired, but it's not necessary. We’ve started seeing more people that aren’t retired doing it!
If you RV(full-time or half-time) - camp hosting can be a great way to save money on the road. It’s also a great way to explore parks from the inside and make some great friends, all while being a part of such a special community.
We stumbled into this field over a year ago, and have no plans on stopping anytime soon. Initially, we were going to stay in RV parks for the first year of RVing, but they were completely booked at the time and cost around $800/month. This led us to search elsewhere for a place to live.
Desperate and broke, Stevie Nicks guided us to our destiny… for truth. Here is the story, we LOVE Stevie Nicks, and were listening to her quite a bit in the summer of 2017. One of the songs we had on repeat was “Silver Springs” (by Fleetwood Mac). One day, while Loren and I were working at our jobs separately, we both experienced a “Stevie Nicks Possession” - in which the spirit of Stevie changed our music to her song. Upon a quick search of “Silver Springs” we quickly discovered Silver Falls State Park. Once we learned about this “gem”, we filled out a camp host application, not thinking much of it, and sent it in. Almost immediately, we were contacted by the Host Coordinator at Silver Falls. Fate… right? We were able to start the next month (September)… and the rest, was herstory.
We consider Silver Falls State Park our home, and we plan to come back to host as much as we can!
Why we love it!
There are many perks to camp hosting. The best (in our opinion) is that you get to live onsite for FREE! Not only is that typically in a beautiful location, it also means no commute to work. All of your utilities are paid for as well, which saves a ton on electric, water, internet etc. Being able to work together is another huge bonus for us!
Some jobs even pay, although we haven't had a paid gig yet (fingers crossed). If the position does not pay, you'll be working in exchange for a free campsite with free hookups. Some paid positions charge a discounted fee for the campsite.
Another huge bonus is the host community! We’ve made lifelong friendships and look forward to working with our favorite hosts every year.
Duties
This is one of the cabins we clean.
Jobs vary from park to park, so there are jobs requiring various skill sets. It typically entails light work - cleaning campsites, selling firewood, stocking/cleaning bathrooms, leaf blowing, etc. We've found there are lots of opportunities available for special skills like carpentry, maintenance, landscaping, and interpretive work. Work days range anywhere from 2 to 6 hours/day and 4-5 days per week. Sometimes, you can find full-time work that pays too.
In just over a year, we’ve had many different opportunities as hosts. We began working at a park shop, because we had experience in retail. After this, we moved to a campground position where we sold firewood, cleaned campsites, and cabins. Cleaning day use areas, doing crafts, photographing events, and helping with web development were some of our other jobs.
Some Things We Don’t Love
Just like any other job, there are some downsides to camp hosting. The one thing that really gets to us is seeing how people (campers/guests) treat the parks. It’s such a privilege to experience all our land has to offer, and unfortunately others don’t see it that way.
The job of cleaning up after the inconsiderate campers/hikers isn’t what’s so bad. It’s the disrespect towards nature and other people. We’ve seen vandalism, trash on the trails, trash in the fire pits, trash thrown into rivers and creeks, needles left where children play, and the list goes on.
So you'll likely see things that bother you as a host, but that’s one of the reasons we’re here doing this work. Plus, you get to swap stories with other hosts and rangers, which is always entertaining!
One of the downsides for some, is working on weekends and holidays. These are the busiest times for campgrounds, so hosts are usually required to work. Not always though! We’ve been lucky enough to find jobs that allow for some holidays and weekends off.
Where to Find Jobs
We've had the most luck searching for specific state Parks and Recreation Departments - such as oregon.gov and looking for park/camp hosting positions.
Others have great luck at volunteer.gov, which searches opportunities with County Parks, State Parks, Bureau of Land Management’s (BLMs), Forestry Departments, Fish Hatcheries, and Wildlife Rescues.
We have been incredibly impressed with the amount of resources available on: coolworks.com and workcamper.com .
KOA has its own database, but you do have to pay a fee to join.
We just booked our first paid gig for next year, and that one we found on workcamper.com!!
Following up is key when finding host positions! Host Coordinators, Park Rangers, and RV parks are BUSY! They might not have time to go through applications everyday, so we try to follow up by phone & email as much as possible.
Do you Workcamp or want to? Leave us a comment below!