If you are interested in volunteering in one or more of the gardens below, please select days & times you are available to volunteer, and tell us how often you would like to join:
Habitat Stewards are dedicated volunteers who are highly involved in planning and coordinating habitat restoration in their local park’s natural areas.
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Existing Parks with Habitat Stewards
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Natural Areas that need a Steward |
Want to come and help at the parks? Then sign up as a park volunteer and help us with removing invasive plant species, planting native plants, and pick up the park.
Existing parks
We are always open to volunteers starting new park watch programs to make our community parks safer.
Join Habitat Steward, Scott Murdock, in maintaining the restoration site at Alderwood Park!
Volunteer opportunities are available during weekdays and weekends. Please email chloe.nelson@tacomaparks.com for more information on volunteering at Alderwood Park.
| Activity | Shifts | Start | End | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Habitat Restoration | 1 | |||
Join Habitat Steward, Scott Murdock, in maintaining the restoration site at Browns Point Playfield!
Volunteer opportunities are available during weekdays and weekends. Please email chloe.nelson@tacomaparks.com for more information on volunteering at Browns Point Playfield.
| Activity | Shifts | Start | End | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Monthly Work Party | 40 | 4/11/2025 | 7/14/2028 | |
Join us in restoring the natural area of Catherine Ursich Park!
Email chloe.nelson@tacomaparks.com for information on volunteer opportunities and stewardship.
| Activity | Shifts | Start | End | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Monthly Work Party | 5 | 4/26/2025 | 8/23/2025 | |
Join in as we care for the blueberry shrubs and natural area at our monthly work parties! Parties are led by our volunteer steward, DJ Heath.
FILL OUT APPLICATION OR LOG-IN TO YOUR ACCOUNT TO SEE SCHEDULED WORK PARTIES, EVERY 1st SATURDAY OF THE MONTH!
For any questions, please email Kevin Johnson at kevin.johnson@tacomaparks.com
| Activity | Shifts | Start | End | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Monthly Work Party | 5 | 4/5/2025 | 8/2/2025 | |
Join Habitat Steward, Gail Sklar, in restoring the natural area at China Lake Park!
Monthly work parties occur on the first Saturday of each month. For questions please email chloe.nelson@tacomaparks.com.
| Activity | Shifts | Start | End | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Monthly Work Party | 9 | 4/5/2025 | 12/6/2025 | |
| Activity | Shifts | Start | End | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Garden Volunteers | 1 | |||
Join Park Steward Craig Bergstrom to help beautify and maintain the restoration site along Ruston Way at Dickman Mill Park.
Check schedule to sign up for a work party!
Questions call Desiree Kennedy at 253-209-5806 or email desiree.kennedy@tacomaparks.com
| Activity | Shifts | Start | End | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Earth Day Beach Cleanup Event with the Port of Tacoma! | 1 | 4/12/2025 | 4/12/2025 | |
Thanks to approval of the 2014 Parks and Zoo Bond by Tacoma voters, the ASARCO Superfund site has been transformed into a major waterfront attraction.
Enjoy sweeping views on the 11-acre Dune Peninsula park, or walk, run and bicycle across the 605-foot-long, 50-foot-tall Wilson Way bridge which links Point Defiance Park to Ruston Way.
It is a unique location with an unparalleled perspective on both the bay and the sky above.
| Activity | Shifts | Start | End | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Park Volunteer, Independent work | 1 | |||
| Activity | Shifts | Start | End | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Dahlia Society | 1 | |||
| Fuchsia Society | 1 | |||
| Greenhouse | 1 | |||
| Herb Garden | 1 | |||
| Iris Society | 1 | |||
| Rhododendron Society | 1 | |||
| Tacoma Garden Club | 1 | |||
| Tacoma Rose Society | 1 | |||
Join Habitat Steward, Robert Girvin, in restoring the Garfield Gulch!
For questions please email chloe.nelson@tacomaparks.com.
| Activity | Shifts | Start | End | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Independent volunteer | 1 | |||
Azaleas, rhododendrons, Japanese cherry trees, crabapples and large and small pines flourish in the Japanese garden. An oriental footbridge, waterfall, Japanese lanterns and a small "tea house" further enhance the grounds. The garden provides a peaceful area to enjoy a bit of solitude and is especially enchanting in early spring. The Capital District of Washington State Federation of Garden Clubs helped to establish the garden in 1965 and continues to provide support. Through a special partnership with Tacoma's Sister City, Kitakyushu, this garden will receive an updated design plan reflective of Japanese landscaping traditions and steeped in cultural heritage. The planning and fundraising for this project began in 2012. It will be at least two years before construction begins.
| Activity | Shifts | Start | End | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Garden Volunteers | 1 | |||
Join us and our volunteer steward, Danny Patnode to care for Mckinley Park!
FILL OUT APPLICATION OR LOG-IN TO YOUR ACCOUNT TO SEE SCHEDULED WORK PARTIES, EVERY 3rd SATURDAY OF THE MONTH.
For any questions, please email Kevin Johnson at kevin.johnson@tacomaparks.com
| Activity | Shifts | Start | End | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Monthly Work Party | 9 | 4/19/2025 | 12/20/2025 | |
Oak Tree Park is home to one of the last stands of White oak in Western Washington. You can volunteer by helping us protect this priority habitat!
FILL OUT APPLICATION OR LOG-IN TO YOUR ACCOUNT TO SEE SCHEDULED WORK PARTIES, EVERY 3rd SATURDAY OF THE MONTH.
For questions, please email Kevin Johnson at kevin.johnson@tacomaparks.com
| Activity | Shifts | Start | End | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Monthly Work Party | 9 | 4/19/2025 | 12/20/2025 | |
Do something good for the earth on Saturday, April 20, 9am - noon!
Volunteers are needed to spruce up local parks by trimming limbs, grooming grounds, combing beaches and maintaining restoration areas. Each person counts! All coming together to lend a hand to keep parks beautiful, our community strong and connected, and being a good steward of the earth.
Metro Parks Tacoma sites are listed below. Pre-register for the event by creating an account or logging-in, and then sign-up for the location you would like to serve at!
| Activity | Shifts | Start | End | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Parks Appreciation Day 2025 at Charlotte's Blueberry Park | 1 | 4/19/2025 | 4/19/2025 | |
| Parks Appreciation Day at Point Defiance Park 2025 | 1 | 4/19/2025 | 4/19/2025 | |
| Parks Appreciation Day at Titlow Park 2025 | 1 | 4/19/2025 | 4/19/2025 | |
For more information on volunteering at the Peck Greenspace, please contact chloe.nelson@tacomaparks.com
| Activity | Shifts | Start | End | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Monthly Work Party | 19 | 4/12/2025 | 10/10/2026 | |
| Stewardship | 1 | |||
Established in cooperation with the Pierce County Iris Society, the Iris Garden contains 101 tall bearded iris, 80 Pacific Coast iris hybrids and 26 iris tectorum, all in assorted colors. During construction in 1992, cobblestones from old Tacoma streets were used for the walls. The garden site is comprised of five sections - one bed is dedicated to tall bearded iris, two beds to various median irises, one bed to beardless iris (Siberian and Pacific Coast iris), and there is a Louisiana section
| Activity | Shifts | Start | End | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Garden Volunteers | 1 | |||
| Activity | Shifts | Start | End | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Garden Club Work Party | 22 | 4/5/2025 | 11/26/2025 | |
| Grit City Community Litter Cleanup Events at Boathouse | 6 | 4/19/2025 | 9/20/2025 | |
| Independent Habitat Restoration | 1 | |||
| Independent Litter Cleanup | 1 | |||
| Independent Trail Maintenance | 1 | |||
| Park Watch | 1 | |||
| Park Watch Meeting | 1 | |||
| Planting Party, Trail across from back of Zoo's Maintenance Building along N Animal Loop Rd. | 1 | 11/15/2025 | 11/15/2025 | |
| Restoration Work Party at the Bear Grotto | 1 | 4/12/2025 | 4/12/2025 | |
| Restoration Work Party, Trail across from back of Zoo's Maintenance Building along N Animal Loop Rd. | 3 | 5/10/2025 | 9/13/2025 | |
| Rhododendron Garden Work Party! | 1 | 4/26/2025 | 4/26/2025 | |
Join us in restoring the Puget Gulch! We are actively looking for a volunteer Habitat Steward for Puget Park.
Email chloe.nelson@tacomaparks.com for information on volunteer opportunities and stewardship.
| Activity | Shifts | Start | End | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Community Litter Cleanup | 1 | 5/31/2025 | 5/31/2025 | |
| Independent Stewardship | 1 | |||
Join Habitat Steward, Nori Kimura, in restoring the natural area at Senator Rosa Franklin Park!
Monthly work parties occur on the second Saturday of each month. For questions please email chloe.nelson@tacomaparks.com.
| Activity | Shifts | Start | End | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Independent Work | 1 | |||
| Monthly Work Party | 9 | 4/12/2025 | 12/13/2025 | |
| Activity | Shifts | Start | End | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Community Litter Clean Up - In Partnership w/ The Ikkatsu Project | 1 | 11/29/2025 | 11/29/2025 | |
| Habitat Restoration Monthly Work Party | 9 | 4/6/2025 | 12/7/2025 | |
Designed as a natural display of rhododendrons in the wild, this garden is nestled in a stand of old growth forest. Trails wind through the forest and intersect the garden. The nearly five-acre site was established in 1968 in cooperation with the Tacoma Chapter fo the American Rhododendron Society, which continues to provide support. The garden contains more than 500 plants, including 198 cultivated varieties and 75 species of rhododendrons.
| Activity | Shifts | Start | End | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Garden Volunteers | 1 | |||
Established by the Tacoma Garden Club, this garden displays and celebrates the native flora of the Pacific Northwest. Paths winding through the one-and-one-half-acre garden pass a lovely waterfall, pond and striking wooden gazebo that Thomas Church helped design and place. The Tacoma Garden Club is instrumental in the maintenance and development of this Northwest treasure. As part of the Garden Club's ongoing stewardship, they are currently raising funds for a Revitalization Plan for the future of the garden focused on education, improving the visitor experience and ongoing maintenance.
| Activity | Shifts | Start | End | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Point Defiance Native Garden | 1 | |||
From June through September more than 1,500 rose bushes provide a rainbow of colors including many variegated combinations. The garden is accredited by the American Rose Society as an All-American Rose selection display garden.
| Activity | Shifts | Start | End | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Garden Volunteers | 1 | |||
Titlow Park is a diverse park with activities including Restoration Work Parties, Park Watch, and Special Events! Please email chloe.nelson@tacomaparks.com for questions about volunteer opportunities.
| Activity | Shifts | Start | End | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Community Litter Cleanup | 1 | 8/30/2025 | 8/30/2025 | |
| Grit City Birders Work Party | 15 | 4/12/2025 | 6/13/2026 | |
| Independent Habitat Restoration | 1 | |||
| Independent Litter Cleanup | 1 | |||
Help restore Wapato Lake by taking out Invasive plant species, planting native plants, picking up litter, and preserving the natural wetland areas.
| Activity | Shifts | Start | End | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Monthly Work Party | 9 | 4/26/2025 | 12/27/2025 | |
Parks Tacoma manages over 2,812 acres of parks and green space, historic landmarks, community centers, beautiful gardens, and special attractions that give us all a chance to get out and play more.
We're asking you to chip in by investing your time and talents to help us improve parks and green spaces, protect neighborhood buildings, and promote a healthier environment while also helping to build a stronger community.
Park Volunteers, formerly known as "CHIP-in!" originated in 2003 when Parks Tacoma faced a lack of funds for maintaining all of the city's parks. Rather than take drastic measures - simply closing parks and walking away - a proactive approach was taken to develop a partnership between the park district and the community to help keep parks open and operating.
