Andy Nelson, Photojournalist

Volunteers - Rocky Mountain National Park

Volunteers have played an important role at Rocky Mountain National Park since its inception in 2015. As an Artist-in-Residence in June 2013, I documented the work of the volunteers in the park. They are often the first people visitors see when they come to the park. Their roles are varied - some guide visitors to the wonders of the park, others help maintain the park, while others help educate the public about its natural processes. Without the volunteers, the park experience not be the same. 

  • Judy Doty, a seasonal volunteer at Rocky Mountain National Park, is a welcoming presence at Bear Lake, one of the most-visited places in the park.
  • Volunteer Terri Morrow takes a picture for a family visting Bear Lake in Rocky Mountain National Park. The photo spot is the location from which the image on the back of the Colorado quarter is taken.
  • Volunteers monitor how visitors walk across the land and access different natural features. In heavily traveled areas, the volunteers are sticklers about keeping people on trails.
  • A yellow-vested volunteer walks in the middle of Trail Ridge Road as he works to keep traffic moving past a herd of elk. The road is the highest continuous highway in the United States. The two-lane road is popular with visitors but when elk are spotted, it can create a high-altitude traffic jam.
  • Rocky Mountain National Park volunteers conduct many outdoor education experiences for visitors including a bird watching tour led by Ronald Harden.
  • Park Service employee Dyan Harden shows volunteers the type of grass their are to pull on their shift in Rocky Mountain National Park. Volunteers carry out a variety of maintenance tasks under the supervision of park employees.
  • Eagle Scout Douglas Klink's Eagle Scout project was to work on a bridge that had been destroyed by fire near Cub Lake in Rocky Mountain National Park. The scouts volunteered their time and completed the bridge in a day.
  • Eagle Scout Douglas Klink's Eagle Scout project was to work on a bridge that had been destroyed by fire near Cub Lake in Rocky Mountain National Park. The scouts volunteered their time and completed the bridge in a day.
  • The Road Hogs are a group of olders volunteers who work on the byways of Rocky Mountain National Park. Many are residents of Estes Park.
  • The Road Hogs are a group of olders volunteers who work on the byways of Rocky Mountain National Park. Many are residents of Estes Park.
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