Colorado camp hosts have plenty to do–some of it a bit odd
By some reports, there are over 250 campground hosts working throughout the state of Colorado. And they must have some stories to tell. Aside from giving directions, stocking toilet paper, and selling firewood, it’s hard to imagine part of the duty assignment for the camp hosts up at Wolford Mountain Campground: Hand over $20 bills to those who bring a live pike caught in the adjacent reservoir.
Live pike? Apparently somebody with an unbalanced view introduced the pike to the Colorado river-fed reservoir earlier this year. The pike are pretty predatory, and the local water district wants to get rid of them as quickly as possible, hence the bounty.
Paying for pike is all in a day’s work, as they say.
The Denver Post reports that campground hosts really save the day for Colorado parks of all sorts, from local operations to federally owned.
“It’s a perfect situation for three or four months,” said Kevin Bittmann who, along with his wife, Karen, works as a Cherry Creek State Park campground host.
“We won the baby-boomer jackpot. We spend summers here, and then we travel and go back to our house in Arizona in October until the next camping season.”
According to the Post, a campground host is, “a hybrid of camp counselor and den mother. (Law enforcement is left to park rangers or local sheriffs’ offices.)
“They greet new campers and bid farewell to the departees. They make sure tents are staked in the designated area and shush noisy campers during nighttime quiet hours. Perhaps most important, they answer many, many questions.”
And its an assignment that exceeds the description of a “job.” Says Bittman, “You know how you feel when you go to Hawaii or someplace and you don’t want to ever go home? That’s how we’ve always felt here.”
Photo: Denver Post
To learn more about opportunities as campground hosts in state parks around the US, check out the author’s book, Camp Hosting USA, available at a special price through RV Bookstore.
