Camp hosting is four jobs wearing one name
Last verified September 9, 2026.
It's the biggest category of work on the road and the most misunderstood. There are four separate routes into the same chair at the campground entrance, and they range from zero cash to a real hourly wage.
The same national forest campground can be a volunteer post or a paid job depending on who operates it. Many Forest Service campgrounds are run by private concessionaires under contract, and those companies pay hourly. The agency-run campground down the road offers a site and nothing else. Same uniform, same duties, entirely different offer.
The four routes
| Route | Cash | Typical hours | Commitment |
|---|---|---|---|
| Federal concessionaire | Hourly wage plus site | 20–40 hrs/week, all paid | Full season |
| Federal agency volunteer | None, site only | 20–32 hrs/week | 1 month to 6+ months |
| State parks | None, site only | 15–40 hrs/week | 2 weeks to 8 months |
| Private campgrounds | Usually hourly, sometimes rent deducted | Set campground by campground | Season |
All 40 documented state programs
Fifty separate programs with fifty sets of rules. Almost all are volunteer. Applications go to the individual park or a state volunteer office, rarely to a central board, which is why these positions are close to invisible.
16 of 40 publish whether the hours are per site or per person. Click a state for its full terms and sources.
| State | Hrs/wk | Notes | Basis |
|---|---|---|---|
| Alabama | — | Daily assistance expected; hours not stated | Not published |
| Alaska | 30–40 | per week | Not published |
| Arizona | 25 | per individual (40 combined per couple) | Per person |
| California | 20–25 | typical; some parks ask 25 or 30 | Varies by park |
| Colorado | 20–25 | per week | Not published |
| Delaware | 24 | per person on site (30 for a solo host in peak season) | Per person, solo variant |
| Florida | 24 | per week | Per site |
| Georgia | 24 | minimum, per week | Per couple |
| Idaho | 20 | minimum statewide; assignments commonly 24–30 | Confirm per park |
| Illinois | 35 | expected availability | Not published |
| Indiana | 20 | minimum; some properties ask 20–24 | Per person |
| Iowa | 20–30 | mostly weekends | Not published |
| Kansas | — | Not published | Not published |
| Kentucky | — | Not stated | Not published |
| Louisiana | 24 | at least, per week | Not published |
| Maine | 20 | single host (40 combined for partners, 20 each) | Per person |
| Maryland | — | Stipulated per park | Not published |
| Michigan | 30 | across at least 5 days | Not published |
| Minnesota | — | 4–5 days/wk on duty; hours per day not stated | Not published |
| Missouri | 32 | up to, per week | Per site |
| Montana | 24 | single host (32 for a couple) | Tiered by household |
| Nebraska | — | Not stated | Not published |
| New Hampshire | — | Not stated | Not published |
| New Mexico | 24 | per week | Per site |
| New York | — | Not stated | Not published |
| North Carolina | — | Not stated | Not published |
| Ohio | 20 | per week | Not published |
| Oregon | — | Varies by park | Not published |
| Pennsylvania | — | Not stated | Not published |
| South Carolina | 20 | minimum, per week | Not published |
| South Dakota | 24 | per week | Per person |
| Tennessee | 20 | minimum 3 days/wk; 24-hour availability on scheduled days | Per person |
| Texas | 24 | minimum; parks may require up to 32 | Per site |
| Utah | 25 | or more, full hookups, most parks | Per person |
| Vermont | 30 | per week | Per site |
| Virginia | — | Not stated | Not published |
| Washington | 28 | at least, per week | Not published |
| West Virginia | — | Not stated | Not published |
| Wisconsin | 15 | ≈15/wk (3 hrs/day × 5 days — our arithmetic, not a published weekly figure) | Not published |
| Wyoming | — | Not stated | Not published |
Who's hiring for state-run hosting
- State park host programs — Varies by state, many recruit from winter
See the full employer directory
Five models, not two
The basis matters more than the number, and there are five different answers to the same question.
- Per site — one requirement for the whole site, however many people are on it
- Texas, Florida, Missouri, New Mexico, Vermont
- Per person — each adult owes the full amount; a couple owes double
- Arizona, Indiana, Maine, South Dakota, Tennessee, Utah
- Per couple — one requirement covering two people
- Georgia
- Tiered by household — a couple owes more than a single host, but not double
- Montana — 24 hours for a single host, 32 for a couple
- Per person, solo variant — each person owes the base amount, but a lone host owes a different figure
- Delaware — 24 hours per person on the site, 30 for a solo host in peak season
Maine asks 20 hours from a single host and 40 from host partners, 20 each. Vermont asks 30 hours per campsite and lets a couple split it, so a Vermont couple owes 15 each. Vermont advertises the bigger number and is the lighter obligation. The headline figure tells you almost nothing on its own.
Colorado is the only state program that publishes what the site is worth
State Forest State Park lists its full-hookup host site at $46 a day for 20 to 25 hours a week. That's roughly $1,400 a month of site value against 87 to 108 hours — an effective rate near $13 to $16 an hour, tax-free, with no cash. Our arithmetic, from their published figures. Every other state program gives you the hours and leaves the other half blank.
Private employers sometimes do the same, when a state agency won't. One Texas ranch owner values his host site at more than $1,000 a month and frames the arrangement as saving a host $2,500 to $3,500 over a six-month season. That's not a state program and terms like it vary entirely by operator, but it shows the dollar figure isn't inherently unknowable — just rarely published.
What to ask, whichever route
- Hours
- How many, and are they per site or per person?
- Cash
- Are any hours paid, and at what rate? Any completion or mileage allowance?
- The site
- Full hookups, water and electric, or dry? Is electric metered and billed back?
- Deductions
- Is any amount taken from pay for the site?
- Commitment
- Minimum stay, and what happens if you leave early
- Screening
- Background check, and who pays for it