Volunteer and Earn Your Northwest Forest Pass
Volunteers join WTA work parties for many reasons, but here's a great one that many people may be unaware of. When you attend two work parties on National Forest land, you earn an annual Northwest Forest Pass - you know, the $30 one that you need at most trailheads in the state!
Volunteers join WTA work parties for many reasons—to make friends, to give back, to learn about a new area—but here's a great one you might be unaware of. When you attend two work parties on National Forest land, you earn an annual Northwest Forest Pass—the $30 annual pass that you need at many trailheads in the state.
This is a pretty handy perk of volunteering, but the time to earn the pass is running out! During the winter, we work primarily in state and national parks, where we cannot offer a Northwest Forest Pass incentive, so summer and early autumn is the time to get out there and help out on your National Forest lands.
Below are some great work parties on National Public Lands Day that will help you earn that pass. If these dates don't work, check out our Trail Work Parties Schedule and look in the "free pass" column. If it says "Yes", you've found a work party that will count towards earning the pass.
Volunteer in Northwest Washington
- Volunteers stop for a chat in Heather Meadows. Photo Credit: Kathy Bogaards
Heather Meadows: Mount Baker Ranger District
Join us and work in an area with stunning views of Mount Baker and Mount Shuksan. We are partnering our friends from Bellingham REI on National Public Lands Day to give you a chance to win a great raffle item. This trip is an optional overnight with free camping and a barbecue Saturday night. WTA will provide the burgers, just be sure and bring a potluck dish to share with the rest of the crew.
Volunteer in Southwest Washington
- Photo Credit: Janice Van Cleave
Ape Cave Viewpoint Trail: Mount Saint Helens National Volcanic Monument
By September 28th, WTA and the Mount Saint Helens Institute will be poised to complete this one mile connector trail. We need helping hands to finish the last few hundred feet of trail in order to open it to the public, thereby giving the Monument a new trail for users to enjoy. Join us in a scenic part of southwest Washington and help us finish this new trail!
Volunteer on the Olympic Peninsula
- Volunteer crew at Duckabush. Photo Credit: halfcenturyhiker
Duckabush Trail: Hood Canal Ranger District
The sounds of the Duckabush River accompanies hikers (and volunteers) throughout this gorgeous trail in old-growth forest on the Olympic Peninsula. We'll be hiking through madrona, manzanita, fir and hemlock as we work on repairing tread along this trail due to water erosion, as well as ensuring all the drainage is functioning properly. Brushing and other general trail maintenance is likely, as is the possibility of seeing various types of wildlife.
Volunteer in the Puget Sound area
Martin Creek Connector Trail: Skykomish Ranger District
The Martin Creek Connector Trail is a new trail construction project off Highway 2. Designed to connect the Iron Goat Trail to the Kelley Creek Trail, this connector will result in a more unified trail system utilizing the historic railroad grade of the Iron Goat and the very old trail up the Kelley Creek drainage. This now leads into the new Wild Sky Wilderness. The work will include opening up the trail corridor and creating new trail bed.
Talapus Lake Trail: Snoqualmie Ranger District
Two lovely alpine lakes await hikers who explore this moderately steep, popular trail. With the hike to Ollalie (the furthest of the two) just 3.25 miles in, this trail gets plenty of traffic. WTA will be working on annual maintenance and tread work to keep this hike in shape for the many enthusiastic hikers who come to explore, camp, and fish here.
Volunteer in Eastern Washington
- WTA Volunteers work on Hall Mountain near Sullivan Lake. Photo Credit: Bill Love
Sullivan Lake District Trails
This work party is in a beautiful, infrequently visited part of the state—the Shedroof Divide Wilderness. As an added bonus, it is being held on the 20th anniversary of WTA's trail maintenance program (read: special treats!), and we will be working in the area for a couple of days, so camping is available at Sullivan Lake if you want to stay overnight.
Sullivan Lake sparkles below the slopes of Hall Mountain, famous for one of the largest bighorn sheep herds in the state. The wilderness is dominated by the Shedroof Divide and Crowell Ridge. WTA will be working on either the Shedroof Divide Trail, focusing on the south end, or Sullivan Lake Trail focusing on the northern half of the trail.
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