Full-Time RVing - Campground Hosting at Cape Hatteras National Seashore

One of the benefits of full-time RVing is having the freedom and mobility to follow the call to far away places. Another benefit is that when you do find a place you love, you can usually stay as long as you like. One way to ensure a lengthy (and lost cost) stay in a place you love is to volunteer to be a campground host. While the National Parks system and some other public campgrounds limit the amount of time you can camp in one campground, campground hosts may spend a month to six months at their assignment.

As I mentioned in some of my other hubs on full time RVing, my husband and I love the beach and like nothing better than to be beach bums wandering from one beach to the next. If we can play in the ocean and hear the surf, we’re happy! So volunteering to be camp hosts at the Cape Hatteras National Seashore seemed like a perfect opportunity for us.

Benefits of Campground Hosting:

Most campground host volunteers are provided with a campsite, usually with full hookups, during their time as camp hosts. If full hookups are not available, at the least there is water and electric except in the most remote areas. Uniforms, if required, are usually provided. Even if a uniform is not required, there is sometimes a dress code (i.e. khaki pants or shorts, white shirt).

Duties: Hours of work required vary from 20 hours a week per couple to 32 hours a week per person. This differs by agency. We've found that the National Parks expect the most time. Usually, the duties are easy: check the campsites, see which campsites are open, clean out fire rings and police the sites, be available to help campers or answer questions. Sometimes hours worked just mean being available at your campsite to answer questions. A detailed list of expectations should be provided beforehand. Usually camp hosts are not involved in enforcing campground rules, taking money or dealing with rowdy campers. Rangers and Law Enforcement are there to take care of difficulties. Often a husband and wife team can arrange to work the same days so that they have time off together.

Requirements for Campground Hosts: Volunteers at Federal parks and public lands are usually required to be U.S. citizens and will need to show proof of citizenship. Again, this may differ by agency. You will also have to provide your social security number for insurance purposes. Volunteers will often need to provide references during the application process and go through a background check. Depending on the agency, the park may require a commitment of 1 to 3 months from campground hosts.

Life many things in our lives, volunteering as camp hosts was not long in the planning. We were camping at the Frisco Campground in Cape Hatteras National Seashore when we noticed that the camp host site was empty. So we asked if they needed a host, they said “yes”, and there we were, the new campground hosts and our first volunteer experience.

Those who have had extensive experience with campground volunteering must have seen it all. It didn’t take long for us to discover that many campers coming to the seashore are not only inexperienced in camping, but in life. Our campsite was in the middle of the campground close to the restroom and showers, so we had some great people watching opportunities as campers walked by our site. I have to admit, though it wasn’t nice to laugh at people, that we had to struggle to keep a straight face on more than one occasions.

The Frogs in the Showers Incident

One of my favorite incidents concerned the little tree frogs that liked to get into the showers and restrooms and cling to the walls. In dim light, they weren’t always easy to see, and could surprise an unwary camper. One afternoon as we sat in our screen tent enjoying the breezes, we heard a loud screech coming from the showers. The cold water only shower stalls were built on a platform near the restrooms. We laughed hearing the screech as we figured someone was surprised by the cold shower. However, in a few seconds, she was backing quickly out of the shower wrapped in a towel, pointing to the wall inside and explaining loudly that she was NOT going to take a shower with those things on the wall. It turned out that there were several tree frogs sharing the shower stall with her – tiny, but unwelcome. Even funnier was that when she tried to use a different shower, the same thing happened. Really, they aren’t that scary, are they?

A Jeep Drowns - No Lifeguard

Driving on beach sand is not like driving on pavement, and those who don’t follow some common safety and driving procedures can get themselves in trouble. The worst incident we saw took place on Ocracoke Island where the beach is so beautiful and flat that people love to drive out for picnics and fishing. We had taken our jeep on the ferry to the island and drove onto the beach looking for a good fishing spot. Quite near the beach access, we noticed another jeep parked too close to water, with the incoming tide lapping under the tires. The jeep was unattended, and we figured that the owners must have gone for a walk, so we continued on our way, hoping that they would come back soon and move it to drier ground. About two hours later on our way back to the main road we passed the unfortunate jeep again. This time the lower half was covered with water and waves were crashing over the roof while the owner sat on the beach, head in hands. It turned out that they came back too late, and even though other people had tried to pull them out of the water, the vehicle was stuck too deep in the wet sand to be moved. The owner was waiting for a heavy duty tow truck to come via ferry from Hatteras to try to rescue the jeep, but I think it was too late. We never did find out its final fate, but I really would not have liked to explain this one to AAA if I were her! Even worse would be explaining it to the car rental company.

Early one morning after a night of wind and rain, we woke to knocking on our door and found 3 bedraggled and disgruntled co-eds standing there ready to file a complaint. They had set up their tent, the quick set-up kind with attached floor that looked a little like a balloon, in the early evening and then left to go out to dinner and visit the local bar scene. When they came back at midnight to gusting winds and pouring rain, their tent was gone and they were irate that someone would be so low as to steal it. The three of them somehow spent the night in their compact car, but were very unhappy campers. We were pretty sure that no one had snuck in and stolen their tent in the middle of a rainstorm, so Bill went out to investigate. Sure enough, the tent had not been anchored and it just blew over the dunes and rolled out of sight.

Sea Gulls Near Campgrounds are Not Your Friends

Those pretty birds circling your head when you have a sandwich or take out a cookie for a snack -- NEVER FEED THEM! When camping near the seashore, the gulls are just waiting for you to leave your campsite unattended. So many campers have come back from the beach to find their box of groceries torn apart, bread eaten, cereal boxes broken open and cookies gone. A flock of gulls can demolish a table full of food products in a matter of minutes!

Despite some of the funny things that we saw as camp hosts, we also met some really interesting people and got to know some of dedicated rangers and volunteers at our park. It was a great experience and gave us an opportunity to give back something to a cause that we wholeheartedly support, our National Park System. With budgets being cut more every year, many parks rely on volunteers to keep running smoothly. It was fun and heartening to contribute our small part.

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Copyright ©2011 Stephanie Henkel