Mount Rainier National Park Associates

Updates

We are making changes to our website. The Volunteer Form and email are still active. You can contact us there anytime throughout our updates.  Keep in mind, some links may not yet be functioning properly. If you have a question about a particular link, please fill out the Volunteer Form below.

Please bear with us through this construction - Thank you!

2026 Work Party Details

Updated on 12/4/2025

A bit about volunteering with us - 

​Volunteering within Mount Rainier National Park is governed by the National Park Service Volunteers-in-Parks (VIP) program.  Although MRNPA organizes our work parties to make it convenient for you to volunteer at Mount Rainier, you will be supervised by NPS staff, and your participation falls under the jurisdiction of Mount Rainier’s VIP Program.  NPS will also require you to complete a Volunteer Services Agreement.  MRNPA will make sure you have that form to fill out the first time you volunteer for one of our work parties at Mount Rainier.  Note that if you are under 18 years old then the parental permission section of the Agreement MUST be completed.  Upon completion, all Volunteer Service Agreements will be collected and passed along to the NPS staff.  In the Service Agreement, the NPS advises that volunteers are not considered Federal employees for any purpose other than tort claims and injury compensation, will not receive any compensation for their volunteer services, and may have their NPS volunteer Service Agreement canceled at any time.  Mount Rainier NP has provided more information on its VIP program and the rights and responsibilities of volunteers on its website.  We have a link to the Mount Rainier VIP program Handbook on the Links and More page of this website, or you may access the Mount Rainier Volunteer Handbook directly at https://www.nps.gov/mora/getinvolved/volunteer-handbook.htm.

If you wish to attend an MRNPA work project, please fill out the short MRNPA Volunteer Form above and submit it.  We will add you to our email list and send out work party information when it is open for sign-up.  Please be sure to fill out the box on how you heard about us.  We are looking for ways to improve our outreach and your input would be greatly appreciated. Also, please enter any questions and/or comments you may have.  Our volunteer coordinator will email you with an acknowledgement. Thank you!

- Work Project (Parties) Details -

MRNPA holds six to ten work projects each year beginning in April and ending in September or October. There is at least one work project scheduled each month, usually on a Saturday.  A full schedule of work project dates and locations can be found below. Details will be provided to volunteers via email as the information becomes available from the Park. Volunteers attending each work project should bring work gloves, rain gear and warm layers for inclement weather, lunch, and plenty of fluids.  Proper footwear is also good idea too as some locations can require hiking in a few miles. Safety glasses and hard hats are required.  We typically have a few hard hats to loan but may not have enough for everyone so bring your own if you have one, and the Park will provide the tools.

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All volunteers under 18 years of age may only participate with the written approval of a parent or legal guardian (NPS Policy); there will be a section on their Volunteer Service Agreement form (OF301a - provided annually to each volunteer before the first work project they attend) where the parent or legal guardian will have to complete and sign.  The Park has no set policy for minimum age for volunteering, however, age limits may be set where safety is a concern due to the nature of the project.  Check the project description for details.  Volunteers under the age of 18 must be accompanied by a parent or an adult authorized by the parent who is responsible for their supervision during work activities.

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If you have any additional questions that are not addressed on our FAQ page​, please use the ​MRNPA Contact Form.

 -Work Project Types -

Trail Work

This is our primary work project type, currently occurring 4 times a year. Trail work projects can include anything from filling potholes or cutting back brush along trails and pathways (called "brushing") to reestablishing trail crossings over the various rivers or cutting in a new trail when nature reclaims an area for its own. This type of work project typically involves using tools such as pulaskis, shovels, rock bars, loppers, and rakes among other things. We frequently move rock to define trail edges and use a variety of methods to mitigate the impacts of water on the trails. 

Non-native Plant Removal

A big part of keeping our national park beautiful is ensuring that the native species have all the opportunities possible to propagate and survive. Non-native plant removal, or the "de-veg" work party, involves going into a specified area and targeting a short list of invasive species that threaten to overtake the native species. Those plants are carefully removed and disposed of to reduce their potential spread. 

Meadow Restoration

Often, people step off trail in search of the perfect picture or to enjoy a picnic in nature. What they don't realize is that they are often killing the plants they are attempting to enjoy up close. In our meadow restoration (re-veg) work party, we plant hundreds of plugs in barren areas in hopes of restoring the damage done by hikers or the weather. This work project type is very popular with families as it involves tasks that children can safely participate in. 

Graffiti Removal

A new work project type in 2023, graffiti removal has become a necessity in areas where hikers have felt the need to leave their mark on the mountain. In many areas, the features that we enjoy are deemed historic and require a specific level of preservation. Longmire Cabin on the Trail of the Shadows is one such example, a historic landmark structure that people have marked with handprints from the nearby Iron Mike spring. Being a historic structure, the cabin needed to be gently cleaned as to not damage the logs further. As people traverse the park without remembering to "leave only footprints", this work project type will be required more frequently. 

Campground Cleanup

Another new work project type to MRNPA in 2023 was Campground Cleanup. The park has three campgrounds which are open seasonally for visitors: Cougar Rock, Ohanapecosh, and White River. With continually growing demands on park staff who arrive only a few weeks before the campgrounds open for the season, we were asked to step in and assist the park in making campsites safe and usable. Tables need to be located in sites and there is an astounding amount of tree debris that had to be cleared. Sometimes even snow!