Thank you for your interest in volunteering with Ascend Wilderness Experience!
**Sign up today to receive email alerts about volunteer opportunities with Ascend: VOLUNTEER
Email: [email protected]
Call: 530-739-1177
To give you a better idea of what it’s like to be a volunteer, check out the information below.
For New Volunteers
| Volunteer Trail Crew Handbook (PDF) | Almost everything you need to know about a trip with us. |
| Read about our past trips | See the blog posts about our past trips and where we have worked. |
| USFS volunteering for trail maintenance (video) | This video is designed to prepare volunteers for working on trail maintenance, with tips on preparation and what to expect on the work site. |
What do I need to bring?
For all projects you will need to bring a day pack, boots, and appropriate clothing. Long pants are required to do trail work and long-sleeved shirts are recommended or required in some areas. For day projects, you will also need to bring water. For extended projects, providing your own camping gear is great, but not necessary! Ascend can equip you with any gear that you may need for overnight camping/backpacking trips. This includes a tent, sleeping bag, eating utensils, and personal items.
Do I need to have prior trail work experience?
Not at all! Most projects do not require prior trail maintenance experience, and we encourage all levels of experience to get involved. You will receive a training session by the trail crew leaders before you begin working on a project, including proper techniques and appropriate tool use. We aim to meet volunteers where they are at, and never ask volunteers to do anything they feel uncomfortable doing.
What does a trail crew do?
Trail crews are a vital component in building, maintaining, and protecting the trails of our region. Each year these crews take out new and seasoned volunteers to conduct trail work. Projects are dependent on the needs of the trail in that area. Trail work may include:
- Cutting and removing fallen trees to clear the trail corridor
- Clearing overgrown vegetation on the trail
- Maintaining and improving the trail tread (tread is the area where people and stock walk on the trail)
- Maintaining and constructing structures such as rock walls, steps, or bridges
Trail crews provide amazing and invaluable assistance!
Is there paperwork required?
You bet there is, but our Crew Leaders will take care of most of it at the trailhead. Linked below are the forms you will be asked to sign to volunteer on National Forest Land.
Leave No Trace
Trail maintenance resources
| USFS Trail Construction and Maintenance Notebook | A compilation from the Missoula Technology and Development Center with basic trail construction and maintenance information; it is a pocket-size manual organized in an easy-to-understand fashion oriented to the needs of the trail worker. Order a hard copy. |
| USFS Hand Tools for Trail Work | The tools shown here are those used most often by US Forest Service trail crews. They are categorized into tools for sawing, chopping, grubbing, digging and tamping, pounding and hammering, lifting and hauling, peeling and shaping, and sharpening and rehandling. Each tool is described along with helpful techniques for use and maintenance. |
| USFS Publications List | A one stop shop for Forest Service documents that focus on trail maintenance safety, tools, and policies. |
Ascend could not exist without our caring community of incredible volunteers who donate their time to steward our public wilderness areas and support Ascend programs!
Each summer Ascend facilitates volunteer stewardship work on our public lands, primarily in the Trinity Alps Wilderness Area. No experience is necessary to help us steward our public lands and adults and children are both welcome to participate. Activities can be as simple as monitoring for solitude or volunteering at trailheads to give information to hikers heading into the Trinity Alps. More extensive projects could include wilderness camp clean ups as you’re on your personal Trinity Alps trip, or joining a work crew to help brush or rebuild trails that have been affected by fire.
If you are unable to join us on the trail, please consider joining Ascend to volunteer with outreach at events or in a fundraising capacity. These activities are critical to Ascend’s longevity in the community and help us thrive! Please consider signing up to learn more about how you can support Ascend with your valuable time.
If you’d like to volunteer for Ascend in an organizational, administrative or event fundraising leadership role, we would welcome your ideas, insight, and input! Get in touch with us to discuss your individual interests to see how it aligns with our organizational needs.