Working and living in a national park means taking a seasonal job with a park concessioner like Xanterra, moving into in-park housing, and building your daily life around the park itself. I got my start in the outdoor world working in Yellowstone, and it changed the direction of my life. In this How 2 Tuesday I sit down with Rick Hoeninghausen of Xanterra to walk through exactly how to apply, where you live, how you eat, and how you get around, so you can do it too.
Listen now: press play in the player above and follow along.
You apply online. For most national park concession jobs you go to xanterra.com and open the employment page, which lists every park and every opening. For Yellowstone specifically, the easiest site to remember is yellowstonejobs.com, part of yellowstonenationalparklodges.com, where you can watch videos about life in the park, follow current employees on social media, and click apply now to fill out the online application. The whole process is built to be simple, so you can go from curious to applied in one sitting.
Just about anyone. College students take summer and seasonal positions, retirees come for a fresh experience or a complete change of pace, gap-year kids fill a transition between school chapters, and lifelong seasonal workers move park to park year after year. There is no single profile. If you put in roughly eight months a year, even in a seasonal role, you can become eligible for benefits and medical coverage. The park lifestyle attracts every age and background, which is part of what makes it special.
In the park. Seasonal workers get in-park housing, mostly dormitory style with two people to a room in buildings the concessioner manages. Managers may get a private room or even a small cabin in certain areas. There is also an employee RV park in several locations, which retirees love because they can bring their own rig. Either way, housing is provided inside the park, so you are not hunting for an apartment in a gateway town before you start.
There are employee dining rooms, cafeteria style, with hot entrees, a sandwich and salad bar, and cereal in the morning, all at a low cost deducted from your paycheck. On the recreation side there are rec halls, gyms, intramural leagues, hiking clubs, and organized shopping trips into gateway communities for people without a car. That social and outdoor life is as much a part of the experience as the park scenery itself.
You lean on the community and the tours. There is no point-to-point employee shuttle, but employees can hop on any of the regular park tours, and they do that often. Friends with cars give rides, and hitchhiking is common, with park workers holding a sign for their destination like Canyon or Grant Village. The recreation department also runs regular trips into gateway towns like Cody or Jackson, sometimes paired with a raft trip, shopping, or a movie.
In my experience it is one of the best things a person can do during a gap year, a career change, or any season of transition. I got my start in the outdoor world working in Yellowstone, and it opened my eyes to a whole way of living. I have sent many people there over the years, including customers' sons and daughters, retirees, and family members, and every one of them came back changed for the better.
As many of you know, I got my start in the outdoor world working in a national park, and it opened my eyes to a way of living I never would have found otherwise. Over the years I have sent a lot of people to Yellowstone, including the sons and daughters of customers, retirees, and family members, and they all came back better for it. Things have changed since my day, so I reached out to Xanterra to get someone who could lay out the exact steps, and Rick, who runs their marketing, was the perfect guide. He breaks it all down in the episode, so press play in the player above.
Here are the steps Rick and I walk through for landing a seasonal national park job and settling into park life. I cover the details and the stories behind each one in the episode.
I unpack each of these with stories in the episode. Press play in the player above.
One of the first questions everyone asks me is where you actually live. For seasonal workers it is in-park housing, usually dormitory style with two to a room, in buildings the concessioner manages. Managers can get a private room or a small cabin, and retirees often bring an RV to the employee RV park. The dining rooms are cafeteria style at a low cost, and the recreation program fills your off hours. Rick paints the full picture of that daily rhythm in the episode, so press play in the player above.
A lot of people worry they will be stuck if they show up without a vehicle. My first year I did not have a car either, and it worked out fine. Employees jump on the park tours, catch rides from friends, hitchhike with a sign for their destination, and ride the recreation department trips into gateway towns like Cody or Jackson. Rick explains how that community moves around in the episode, so press play in the player above.
Both of my boys fell in love with Yellowstone working there, and they ended up at Montana State in Bozeman. My niece and nephew worked there too, and my niece went on to Mount Rainier, fully embracing the park lifestyle. Every single person I have ever sent has had a great experience.
If you are looking at a gap year, a career change, or just a season of something different, this is one of the best decisions you can make. Go to yellowstonejobs.com, watch the videos, and apply. Press play in the player above to hear exactly how.
How 2 Tuesday is my weekly series where I break down one fishing skill at a time, from knots and casting to gear, tactics, and the habits that make you a better angler. Watch and listen to every How 2 Tuesday episode from Tom Rowland.
Yellowstone National Park · Xanterra · Rick Hoeninghausen · yellowstonejobs.com · Mount Rainier · Montana State University · Bozeman · Cody Wyoming · Jackson Wyoming · seasonal park jobs · How 2 Tuesday · Saltwater Experience
I'm Tom Rowland, a professional fishing guide based in the Florida Keys, host of the Tom Rowland Podcast, and the longtime host of the Saltwater Experience television show. On the podcast's How 2 Tuesday series I break down one practical skill or lesson at a time, from fishing technique and gear to the habits that make you a better angler, in short, focused episodes you can put to use right away.
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