When we accepted our summer work camping job at Cottonwood Camp, we knew ahead of time that we weren’t contracted to work the entire season. The owner of the camp had hired us on from mid-March until the end of June, with another couple arriving to work from July 1 until the close of the season sometime around early- to mid-November.
Bubba was the maintenance and general get-it-done guy, tackling everything from lawn mowing and weed eating to replacing porch steps, cabin siding and interior flooring, to minding the septic system. I took on the role of housekeeper, cleaning toilets and kitchens and making beds.
We loved the camp we were working at and all of those who we worked with. Unfortunately, Mother Nature conspired against the angling industry this year, bringing unusually heavy snowfall to the mountains (leading to heavy runoff once the weather warmed up), high flow rates on the rivers and a sub par fish spawn. All of this coalesced into less than ideal fishing conditions, thus a drop in business. None of the fishing camps were as busy as they normally were.
Although we knew our contract wouldn’t take us through the end of the season, we had an offer from the owner to remain on as long as we liked. We had already let him know that we were committed to working the sugar beet harvest in the fall and would be expected in Sidney, Montana some time around the middle of September.
Our original plan was to remain at Cottonwood Camp until mid- to late-August, then take a short break to get ready for the harvest. Unfortunately, once our relief work campers arrived, it was painfully apparent that there just wasn’t going to be enough work to keep everyone occupied. Since we had fulfilled our obligation, we decided to bow out gracefully.
Luckily we subscribe to Workamper News, which publishes almost daily emails showing RVing jobs that are available immediately or in the very near future. We saw a job come up on the hotline in Hill City, South Dakota at a U.S. Forest Service campground. This seemed to fit our needs perfectly – it was a reasonably close drive (we didn’t want to trek halfway across the country and back since we knew we’d have to be back in Montana in the fall), and they were closing their season out on September 9th. We would be finished in time for the sugar beet harvest.
The job was with a company that contracts with the Forest Service to manage 33 of its campgrounds in the South Dakota/northern Wyoming area. We called as soon as we saw the job opening and ended up being told they had already filled the position. They offered to keep us on a waiting list in case any other openings came up.
Feeling disappointed, we went back to work and continued to check the Workamper News hotline. Unfortunately the jobs that were being posted were farther away than we wanted to travel. Just four days later, we received a phone call from South Dakota. They had another opening become available for a work camping couple and wanted to know if we wanted the job. The position would be as a camp host in one of their campgrounds near Rapid City. It included a full hookup campsite and paid $9.10 per hour for every hour worked. We were told to expect to work 30 to 35 hours per week each.
Pay wise, this job was less that what we would normally consider, and we really were looking for a full 40 hours per week, but we decided that the location of the job and the timeframe, which made it fit perfectly into our schedule, outweighed the prospect of lower pay and fewer hours than we wanted. We decided to go for it.
We gave our employer at Cottonwood Camp our notice, and by the following weekend we were pulling up stakes and heading out on our next adventure.
We feel like this experience is beneficial to share with others who might be considering using work camping as a means to afford a traveling lifestyle, but are afraid that work might be difficult to find. There are always employers seeking help of all kinds, all over the United States (and in other countries, if that is your thing). There’s no shortage of work, but there does seem to be a shortage of hard-working, reliable work campers. If you have a solid work ethic and a can-do attitude, you’ll be able to find plenty of work to help you live your life on the road!
