Volunteer with Denver Parks & Recreation

Overview

Denver Parks & Recreation (DPR) offers a variety of volunteer opportunities throughout the year, giving groups, individuals, and businesses the chance to help keep their parks and community healthy and beautiful. With over 21,000 acres of urban and mountain park land, 30 Recreation Centers and numerous programs and amenities, there’s always somewhere volunteers are needed! Learn more about the different ways you can get involved in the following sections. 

Volunteer Opportunity Calendar

Denver Parks and Recreation offers numerous opportunities for interested volunteers to give back to the City’s parks every year. Create an account on Go Denver Parks to browse and sign up for all volunteer opportunities.

Go Denver Parks is DPR’s volunteer hub where individuals and groups can:

• Search for and sign up for volunteer projects and other activities
• Request a one-day volunteer project for your group

Upcoming Featured Projects:

Citywide Trail Cleanup Day | June 7

Volunteers are needed for DPR’s summer City-Wide Trail Clean up! Join us at one of 11 sites to help with general clean up tasks that may include trash and debris removal, painting, weed removal and other tasks to keep Denver’s trails looking great and in good condition for all trail users. Visit denvergov.org/Trails to view a map of project site locations.

Register now for clean-ups at the following locations:

• Bear Creek Trail
• City of Takayama Park
• Confluence Park
• Globeville Landing
• Green Valley Ranch East
• High Line Canal @ Bible Park
• Lakewood Dry Gulch
• Grant Frontier Park
• Sanderson Gulch
• Weir Gulch Trail
• Sand Creek Greenway

One-Day Project Request

Denver Parks & Recreation offers one-day volunteer projects throughout the year, offering groups, individuals and businesses the opportunity to help keep their park and community beautiful. Potential projects include:

• Graffiti removal
• Trash and debris removal
• Mulching trees and shrub beds
• Planting flowers, shrubs
• Tree planting (Spring & Fall)
• Gardening
• Playground maintenance
• Trail maintenance

If interested, please create an account on Go Denver Parks and fill out a One-Day Project Request Form.

Mountain Parks

Denver's park system includes 14,000 acres of mountain parkland including 22 accessible parks and 24 conservation areas. These areas crate the city's "backyard" park system and make it one of the most unique and expansive in the country. 

The mountain parks require ongoing volunteer support from heavy use. In addition to opportunities listed on Go Denver Parks, volunteer opportunities include –

• Chief Hosa Campground host
• Red Rocks Park clean-ups

Create a Go Denver Parks account to get involved in mountain parks volunteer projects. 

Wildlife & Environmental Education

Lights Out Denver

How You Can Help
Lights Out Denver needs citizen scientists to help gather data on bird collisions in Denver’s downtown area during the Spring (March-May) and Fall (August-October) migration seasons.  A team of volunteers will patrol a route in downtown to inspect the ground for deceased and injured birds, collecting the specimens, recording their findings, and reporting with the project coordinator.

Skill Requirement
Everyone is welcome.  Must be able to walk, wheel, or bike along route and handle light equipment. Bird identification skills are a plus, but non-essential.  If you enjoy seeing the sunrise over our beautiful city and want to see our city become a leader in bird conservation, we’d love to have you join our team, please email education.wildlife@denvergov.org. 

Learn more about this program.

Wildlife Education

DPR is looking for Volunteers to assist with providing wildlife education to the public at Evergreen Lake, Evergreen Golf Course, Dedisse Park, and the surrounding area.

Mission of the Wildlife Watch Volunteer Program 
Interact with lake, golf course, and park visitors to provide information about the local wildlife species and their habits -using materials provided by Evergreen Nature Center to enhance visitors’ understanding of the wildlife around the lake and its surrounding area; Foster interest and enthusiasm for wildlife;  Educate visitors about appropriate behavior when around wildlife. Participating volunteers will be asked to attend an in-person Training session in May, before the busy season starts. If interested, please email vicki.vargas-madrid@denvergov.org for additional information. 

Recreation Volunteers

Volunteers are vital to supporting DPR's diverse recreation program offerings. There are a variety of areas to get involved in, such as Youth Sports, Adaptive Recreation, Arts & Culture, Outdoor Recreation, and Out-of-School activities. 

Download a volunteer application and email the completed document to Volunteers.Recreation@denvergov.org. 

Learn more about recreation volunteer opportunities:

Adopt a Dog Park

With heavy use, DPR recognizes the need for clean dog parks and the Adopt-A-Dog Park program enables community groups, neighbors, individuals and businesses to help take care of their local parks. Participants work on projects like:

• Removing litter
• Cleaning up doggie landmines left by others
• Reporting potential hazards,
• Weeding, painting, etc. 

Register to Adopt-a-Dog Park!

Volunteer Project: March 13

Neighbors are invited to participate in a volunteer cleanup project at Kennedy Dog Park on March 13 from 10:00 a.m. - 1:00 p.m. The dog park will be closed during this time. Email Tina.Myers@denvergov.org to get involved. 

Park Stewardship Adoptees

Park adoptees are the superstars of DPR parks volunteering and critical to the ongoing care of the City’s parks! Being a Park Adoptee represents a long term commitment. Volunteers support DPR regularly via an agreed upon scope of work. Adoptee work  includes planting, mulching, painting, litter removal, maintenance of flower beds and other important tasks.

If you’re interested in adopting your favorite park or trail as Park Adoptee, please contact Tina Myers to inquire. Expand the panel below to see the list of current park adoptees: