By Cheri Sicard
In Nanci Dixon’s most recent “Campground Crowding” installment, she shared her positive experience being a work camper, but another RVer shared a negative side to the job. I thought the video below from Vince of the Solo Man With Dog and A Van YouTube channel could answer a lot of questions if you’re interested in what it’s like being a work camper.
Last summer, Vince, along with his faithful 4-legged companion, Ricky, was campground hosting in Oregon. The video gives his honest assessment of the pros and cons of this type of work camping.
Vince says he can tend to ramble on, so for those in a hurry, he concluded that overall it was a good gig, although he had a few reservations and factors to discuss that may help others decide if campground hosting is right for them.
Vince worked for Vista Recreation, a private company that contracts with the Forest Service to provide campground hosts. While his experience was in Oregon, he says they have jobs all over the country.
Besides campground hosts, this company also fills other positions at campgrounds, including maintenance workers and office help.
They do online and in-person training before you start the job.
One of the benefits of being a campground host is a free campsite. Depending on where you are, this may or may not include hookups. The camp where Vince worked had no such amenities. He didn’t worry as he had solar and was prepared for boondocking, although he did find he had to beef up his solar capacity because of shade and cloudy days.
Beyond the campsite, Vince was paid minimum wage, which in Oregon was $14.53 per hour at the time. Each deal is different. Sometimes, especially with hookups, the campsite is the payment.
What are the duties of a campground host?
The campground where Vince worked had 19 sites and 2 vault toilets. His duties included:
• Keep the restrooms clean and stocked with toilet paper. In Vince’s case, these were vault toilets, so it wasn’t like he had to scrub toilets.
• Keep the campsites clean. This included cleaning out the fire pit after people left, picking up any trash or “micro trash” that might have been left behind, and generally keeping things looking tidy.
• Schmooze the campers. Vince says that making friends and getting to talk to all the campers was the best part of the job. Depending on your personality, this may or may not be appealing. It probably wouldn’t be for me.
• Collect payments, either in person or from the on-site box where people can register. Rick says the company he worked for provided software that kept the payments and accounting quick and easy.
Who is work camping right for?
• Nomads: People living and working on the road can cut their expenses to nearly nothing this way. Vince says if you are on Social Security or other type of retirement, you can bank almost your whole salary.
• RVers who live in proximity to the campground: Vince has met a lot of campground hosts who live within 50 miles of the campground. They spend the summer in their RV in a beautiful place, but are able to run home to check on things on their days off.
Traits and qualifications of a good campground host
Vince says this is not the best job for Type A perfectionists or for people with short fuses. It helps to be easygoing and have the ability to go with the flow.
He cites several examples of why in the video, including the occasional “knucklehead campers,” although Vince says for the most part people are OK. More often than not, the beef surrounds people letting their dogs roam around off-leash.
Overall, Vince thinks being a camp host was a worthwhile gig. And he says that even if you don’t get hired at first, there are frequent cancellations and people who leave the jobs mid-season for whatever reason. So, keep trying and don’t get discouraged if at first you don’t land a position.
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##RVT1224
Interesting topic and comments, and yes – he does ramble a bit.
rambling may be a + for the job
When we looked in to camp hosting, the most common reimbursement was a “free” spot to park and work from and no wages. Those offering wages in addition to a spot were not numerous nor without additional expectations.
Assuming the site collects $45 a night per site and you and your partner are obligated to 32 hours a week each, that’s akin to roughly $5.00 per hour. I struggled to find the “pros” in working for less than minimum wage.
Thank you, Cheri! 🙂 I enjoyed his style, his manner of presentation. I subscribed to his channel for that reason. Thank you for putting me onto him. We have too much to do around the farm, too often to host as things stand. But, all that could change and hosting become attractive. Thanks again and safe travels! 🙂
Ask a campground host who was Gifford Pinchot and what their mission statement to protect America’s Wilderness Heritage? Remember, they often work on Federal Land with history and tradition of the Forest Service.
We hosted for about 17 years in Jackson Hole. Got our site and 6.50, each, an hour. Was very nice visiting the Tetons and seeing animals every day.
My advice is go where want to be and look for a job.
We’ve been full time camp hosts for six years now. Our worst gigs were ones that paid, since that often was because they couldn’t find volunteers for that job. We do Washington State parks and Us Army Corps of Engineers parks now, and love it. When people “do the math” And opt out, they’re missing a huge reason to host. We are retired, and hosting lets us stretch our pension while still allowing for travel and letting us stay in places we couldn’t afford to live. It also gives us a chance to give back to this beautiful country and help teach a new generation how to camp.
Thank you, Cheri, for citing and summarizing the video! Already leaned toward “not for us” and this didn’t move the needle much in the opposite direction. Were we full-timers, then it probably would have made us sample hosting, and possibly begin to do it annually. Have a great week and safe travels!
We love being camp hosts. We have been doing state parks in various states. We did one private gig, NEVER AGAIN! They thought they owned us. Otherwise we enjoy it very much and will continue. We will be camp hosts in Texas, Oregon, and Washington in 2026.
We’ve toyed with the idea of camp hosting over the years, while relaxing next to our campfire with a fine Merlot wine in hand, then laugh.