Great Parks of Hamilton County

Can you find your way around a computer? Are Excel sheets and Word programs your jam? These are just a few of the things you can help with around the office. You can also help with training other volunteers, driving to get needed items, mailings, scanning, entering data, proofreading, organizing, and "other duties as assigned". It's amazing how imaginative your supervisors can be when coming up with projects for you! 

*This role currently has a waitlist.*

Do you have a love for trails? Adopt the one that has a soft spot in your heart. Adopt-A-Trail Monitors hike their assigned natural surface trail twice monthly with additional monitoring after heavy weather events and submit reports to the Trails team. Adopt-A-Trail Monitors clean up litter, remove small debris from the trail, ensure drainage structures are functioning so that water is flowing and trail erosion is minimized, and perform trail maintenance as needed. 

Our animal ambassadors are amphibians, mammals, reptiles, and birds of prey who engage and educate the public and could use your tender loving care. Animal Caretakers are needed to feed, clean, and interact with each program animal according to its unique feeding and care schedule. Animals are housed in the visitor centers, so you must be available during regular business hours, which fluctuate seasonally.

Do you want to help transform guests into happy campers? Join us in the Visitor Center to check in our weekend campers. In this role, you will share the rules and policies of our campground, how to navigate around the campground to their site, and what programs we have happening that weekend. You will be the person to inform the campers to ensure they begin their first night at the campground off on the right foot!

*This role currently has a waitlist.*

Does a few weeks of going to sleep by a crackling campfire and waking up with coffee among the trees call your name? Pull your RV into Winton Woods Campground for a volunteer host position! You'll be the friendly eyes and ears of the campground, and ensure the campground facilities stay clean, fresh, and restocked to ensure the happy campers stay that way. Campground Hosts must commit to a two-week camping period and provide their own RV. Campground Hosts must also attend additional training.

Do you like meeting new people and talking about Great Parks? There are multiple opportunities to engage with the community! These community engagement opportunities take place at special events and festivals throughout the city. Answer questions and share flyers and swag with attendees! Events range from health fairs and sustainability events to community festivals and marathons.

Help enhance the Miami Whitewater Forest Harbor as a Dock Attendant! Help guests select their rental equipment, from boats to bikes, and share the equipment and general lake recreation rules. Get a good workout from pulling up rowboats, carrying kayaks, and walking the shore to keep an eye on the lake! This role has the opportunity to extend throughout the spring and summer seasons.

*This role currently has a waitlist.*

Work alongside the Farm team and fellow volunteers to muck stalls and groom, tack and feed horses, ponies, and farm animals at the Winton Woods Farm & Equestrian Center! You may also have the opportunity to hold horses or program animals for the farrier and/or veterinarian during well checks and guide horses and animals to and from barns, lesson/program areas, cool-down spaces, and fields. Monitoring entrance gates and interacting with park guests is also included in this role. Regular and frequent exposure to heat and cold. You’ll be standing for extended periods of time and walking over uneven surfaces. May occasionally need to lift items 10-50 pounds. Successful completion of in-person and online training is required before volunteering may begin.

Assist our Natural Resources team with monitoring the flora and fauna within Great Parks' locations!

Can you make your own lures? Teach kids how to cast a rod and not hook their buddies? Can you tell your basic blue gill from your bass? If so, volunteering for fishing programs may be the spot for you. Help with tournaments for all ages or day camps for children. This is a great way to share your fishing expertise, and maybe even hear a few fish tales.

MyPOP (My Piece of the Park) Volunteers can “adopt” a garden area in the Highfield Discovery Garden at Glenwood Gardens. Planting flowers, pulling weeds, mulching, and watering are typical gardening pleasures!

Or join us at Winton Woods Farm & Equestrian Center to help take care of our Vegetable Garden! Adopt a plot and grow your own food or stop in to help with general garden maintenance. You’ll get invitations to participate in special one-time group projects too.

Or join our Pollinator Garden team at Farbach-Werner Nature Preserve. There will be frequent interaction with park guests at each location.

Do you enjoy spending time on the golf course? Volunteer alongside our golf pros and others who are passionate about the sport. Don't just chase one little white ball, chase hundreds of them while ball popping, retrieving golf balls that have been sunk in the mud.

If you're looking for a more individual, flexible role you could become an Adopt-A-Hole Monitor and help fill divots, pick up broken tees or litter, or clear grass clippings from the fairway. Knowledge of golf etiquette is required.

We extend the usage of these range mats by constantly rotating them to cut down on wear patterns and changing their location, so they are recycled in and out of high-traffic areas. As a Driving Range Mat Rotator our 38 range mats a quarter of a turn and periodically shift range mats from high-traffic areas to lower-traffic areas. Additionally, you’ll power wash the concrete under the covered tee line structure to keep it looking fresh and clean. Additional tasks in this role will vary from week to week and could include minor tasks on the course or on the natural turf area.

We also host a variety of golf tournaments throughout the season. Support the Golf team by being a ball spotter, assisting with check-in, and more. These typically take place on weekends. 

Teach alongside interpreters as they bring the public closer to the natural world found in and around Great Parks. Topics are varied and include subjects ranging from butterflies, bugs, and birds to plants, stars, and the environment. If you have a sense of curiosity and wonder about nature, you have a gift to share. Although we don't have "lions and tigers and bears, oh my!" we do have some amazing wildlife and natural wonders in Ohio that you can learn about with others!

Train maintenance includes frequently checking, cleaning, and repairing the functional operation of G Scale model trains. Keep inventory of trains and parts; partner with supervisors for needed purchase of supplies for repairs, replacements, and ongoing maintenance of model trains.

There will be frequent interaction with park guests, both youth and adults, will take place while working out in the garden. Help keep those trains and imaginations chugging along!

Meet guests on site to show them features and amenities offered at one of three self-serve lodges at Fernbank Park, Lake Isabella, and Withrow Nature Preserve. You will play a vital role in answering questions and showing guests the amenities of our three reservable lodges. Open House guests touring the facilities could be planning details for a future reservation or thinking about making a reservation to host their corporate outing, wedding, anniversary, birthday, baby shower, or other significant milestone.

Assist our Rangers with their annual events and programs like National Night Out and Trunk or Treat! These events and programs take place at various parks across the district. Volunteers will assist with general event support tasks, such as setup, directing traffic, greeting park guests, and more. 

*This role currently has a waitlist.*

Do you love the parks, coordinating events, and fundraising? Then support our Philanthropy team and Great Parks Forever to host the annual Root Ball, Great Parks Forever’s signature fundraising event. As a committee chair or a committee member, you will dedicate a few hours a week to planning the event, connecting with potential attendees, vendors, and donors, securing auction items for the event, and more! The Root Ball typically takes place in October. 

Support the native plant network by volunteering at Shaker Trace Nursery, a 51 acres of native plant beds within Miami Whitewater Forest. Sort seeds, weed, plant, and grow the next generation of plants for prairie and wetland restoration efforts throughout Great Parks.

Support the Marketing & Brand Strategy and Guest Experiences teams at Great Parks' special events! These larger-scale events include tasks like setup and cleanup, leading activities or craft stations, and more.

Join our Sustainability Coordinator and Natural Resources team in various initiatives across the district! Support our three major E-Waste Collection Events throughout the year at Winton Woods, Woodland Mound, and Miami Whitewater Forest by unloading items from vehicles, assisting with the check-in table, and more. We also have opportunities to be a waste station monitor at our special events! This role is assisting park guests add their items either to the recycling, compost, or landfill receptacles as well as educating guests on what ends up where!

Work alongside employees and fellow volunteers to help with vital environmental and conservation goals for the park district like removing invasive plant species, planting and maintaining trees, mulching, collecting native seeds, cleaning up litter, and more! You can volunteer for whichever projects fit your schedule and interests.

*There is currently a waitlist for this role.*

How healthy are the small streams that contribute to the Great Parks watershed? Find out as you participate as a stream monitor once a month for your assigned stream(s). You will learn to identify and record the invertebrate life forms in a small sample area using a dip net. The numbers and kinds of these creatures are the gauges of the overall health of the stream. These streams are the headwaters that provide the filtering system for our clean water and you may have to traverse rough terrain to reach them. You will need to dress for outdoor work and be prepared for sun and insects.

Curious about how trails are built? Trailblazer projects are monthly educational and hands-on trail maintenance opportunities! The 84+ miles of trails within Great Parks are well-loved and sometimes need repairs and even reroutes to ensure the safety of trail users and the health of the environment. Tasks can include removing berms from the side of trails, installing rolling grade dips, clearing vegetation, installing rock armoring, and more!

If you're a people person and like to be surrounded by the best nature gifts in the city, you'll enjoy volunteering at one of our visitor centers or Nature's Niche stores! You will assist guests with purchases and questions, operate the cash register, answer phones, and do light housekeeping to make the Niche shine! You will be trained on our POS system, phones, and credit card machines.