Opportunities From: Volunteers for Outdoor Colorado

Where You’ll Be: 

Signature Bluffs Natural Area is a riparian and wetland natural area along the Cache la Poudre River with soft-surface trails, cottonwood stands, cattail marshes, and a pond where fishing is allowed with a valid Colorado license. The site is well known for wildlife and bird watching and connects directly with the Poudre River Trail for extended hiking or biking. The exact meeting location will be shared via email at least seven days prior to the project. 

What You’ll Do:  

Volunteers will help improve visitor access while protecting sensitive habitat at Signature Bluffs. Work will focus on closing and revegitating informal social trails around the lake to reduce habitat disturbance and support native vegetation recovery.

Volunteers will also improve the designated primitive trail by widening and defining it, creating a safer and more welcoming route to fishing access points. This project is a good fit for new volunteers and anyone interested in learning more about trail restoration.

Please bring your own lunch for the day.

Why It Matters: 

Informal trails can fragment habitat and impact wildlife and native plants. By restoring these areas and improving designated trails, this project helps protect sensitive ecosystems while guiding visitors to enjoy the landscape in a sustainable way. The work completed at Signature Bluffs supports long-term habitat health, safer recreation, and a better experience for everyone who uses the area. 

Eligibility Requirements:  

Ages 12+

Youth under 16 must be accompanied by an adult aged 21 or older. 

Project Difficulty:  

This project is considered easy to moderate; please check our difficulty rating criteria here for more details 

The following are general physical considerations for this type of work. Some or all may apply. Volunteers can expect kneeling, bending, and working close to the ground for extended periods.

Work takes place outdoors with exposure to sun, weather, and insects such as bees and wasps. Tasks may include carrying, hauling, and placing heavy materials like logs, branches, rocks, and fencing, as well as digging, shoveling, and moving soil and rocks. Some work will take place near water, where footing may be muddy or slippery.

This is a 6.5 to 7 hour workday that requires some physical stamina, and volunteers are always encouraged to take breaks as needed.

Access Factors:   

Vehicle Access:  No vehicle restrictions – 2WD accessible  

Other Notes: Cell service may be spotty in this area.

Where You’ll Be: 

Boulder's Open Space and Mountain Parks form a buffer around the city, helping to establish its own identity from neighboring communities. This project will take place in the Boulder Valley Ranch area, which offers access to many popular trails, including Sage, Eagle, Cobalt, and Left Hand.

What You'll Do:

Volunteers will help with the construction of the Hidden Valley Trail reroute. Work will include clearing vegetation to make way for the trail, digging and removing dirt to reach the proper trail level, and fine-tuning to create a smooth trail tread and a surface that drains properly.

Please bring your own lunch for the day.

Why It Matters:

This trail reroute is part of a larger trail improvement plan for the western Boulder Valley Ranch area north of the city. These projects aim to improve outdoor experiences, increase trail sustainability, and increase bicycling trail access while protecting wildlife and plant habitats in the area.

Eligibility Requirements:

Ages 14+ 

Youth under 16 must be accompanied by an adult aged 21 or older.

Physical Difficulty:

This project includes tasks at varying levels of difficulty, from easy to moderate to difficult. Please check our difficulty rating criteria here for more details.

General physical considerations for participating on this project (Some or all may apply): moderate lifting and tool use; digging, shoveling, moving soil and rocks; repetitive bending, lifting, and walking; may require hiking to access work site while carrying tools; you can expect to bend, pick objects up, move rocks, carry tools, swing heavy tools, dig, and stretch.

Access Factors:

Vehicle Access: 2WD accessible

Other Notes: There will be about a half-mile hike from the parking lot to the work site. The worksite is sun-exposed.

Where You'll Be:

Parkfield Lake Park is a mixed-use park in the Montbello neighborhood of Denver. It is home to the Montbello Recreation Center, athletic fields, trails, a lake, and open space, and is surrounded by dense housing. The park is highly valued by the Montbello Community, and the trails are heavily used around the lake and in the open space areas.

What You'll Do:

Volunteers will be constructing timber steps on a trail at Parkfield Lake Park. This project will be critical to restore a degraded and eroded trail, making it safer for park users, increasing access, improving aesthetics, and reducing maintenance strain on Parks staff.

Please bring your own lunch for the day.

Why it Matters:

The timber steps will improve safety, mitigate erosion, and reduce the expansion of social trails into the natural landscape.

Eligibility Requirements:

Ages 18+

Physical Difficulty:

This project is considered moderate to difficult; please check our difficulty rating criteria here for more details.

Physical Considerations: The project tasks can include digging into the hillside, lifting and placing lumber, and lifting and placing gravel on a steep slope. If you would like to participate in this event but the primary tasks do not suit you, we can accommodate volunteers removing weeds.

Access Factors:

Vehicle Access: 2WD accessible

Other Notes: Restrooms will be available on site. It is a 5-minute walk on a paved trail from the parking lot to the project site.

Where You’ll Be: 

Boulder's Open Space and Mountain Parks form a buffer around the city, helping to establish its own identity from neighboring communities. This project will take place in the Boulder Valley Ranch area, which offers access to many popular trails, including Sage, Eagle, Cobalt, and Left Hand.

What You'll Do:

Volunteers will help with the construction of the Hidden Valley Trail reroute. Work will include clearing vegetation to make way for the trail, digging and removing dirt to reach the proper trail level, and fine-tuning to create a smooth trail tread and a surface that drains properly.

Please bring your own lunch for the day.

Why It Matters:

This trail reroute is part of a larger trail improvement plan for the western Boulder Valley Ranch area north of the city. These projects aim to improve outdoor experiences, increase trail sustainability, and increase bicycling trail access while protecting wildlife and plant habitats in the area.

Eligibility Requirements:

Ages 14+ 

Youth under 16 must be accompanied by an adult aged 21 or older.

Physical Difficulty:

This project includes tasks at varying levels of difficulty, from easy to moderate to difficult. Please check our difficulty rating criteria here for more details.

General physical considerations for participating on this project (Some or all may apply): moderate lifting and tool use; digging, shoveling, moving soil and rocks; repetitive bending, lifting, and walking; may require hiking to access work site while carrying tools; you can expect to bend, pick objects up, move rocks, carry tools, swing heavy tools, dig, and stretch.

Access Factors:

Vehicle Access: 2WD accessible

Other Notes: There will be about a half-mile hike from the parking lot to the work site. The worksite is sun-exposed.

Where You’ll Be:  

You’ll be working at 1st Ave Pond, a quiet, behind the scenes natural area in the southernmost part of the City of Greeley. This site borders a small stretch of the South Platte River corridor and is currently closed to public access, allowing it to function as an important refuge for wildlife. With no formal trails or recreational use, the area provides undisturbed habitat for birds, small mammals, and other species that rely on intact riparian and wetland ecosystems.

What You’ll Do: 

Volunteers will help remove 10 to 15 foot Russian olive trees, an invasive species that threatens native vegetation and wildlife habitat along the South Platte River corridor. This project includes roles for both chainsaw certified volunteers and general volunteers. Chainsaw certified volunteers will cut Russian olive trees into manageable sections. Other volunteers will assist by moving cut material to a chipper staging area operated by the Forestry Division.

Only certified sawyers are permitted to operate chainsaws.

This project requires five B certified Chainsaw Sawyers. A certified Sawyers may participate under the supervision of B Sawyers.

If you are certified, please note this in the comments section during registration and email your certificate to the project manager.

All sawyers must hold a current First Aid and CPR certification in order to operate a chainsaw.

Interested in getting certified? Visit our Training Calendar to view upcoming training opportunities.

Why It Matters: 

Russian olive is designated as a List B species under the Colorado Noxious Weed Act, requiring active management to prevent its spread. These invasive trees displace native plants and wildlife and can consume up to 75 gallons of water per day, water that is critical for sustaining wetlands and the species that depend on them. Removing Russian olive at 1st Ave Pond helps restore native habitat, protect limited water resources, and strengthen the health of the South Platte River corridor. 

Eligibility Requirements: 

Ages 18+  

Project Difficulty: 

This project is considered difficult. Please check our difficulty rating criteria here for more details.  

Physical Considerations:

Expect physically demanding work, including moving heavy plant materials and working on uneven terrain. For volunteers not operating chainsaws, there may be lifting cut plant debris overhead at times, carrying logs, piling plant debris in one place, and using loppers. 

Access Factors:   

Vehicle Access: No vehicle restrictions – 2WD accessible

If you enjoy chainsaw projects, either as a certified sawyer or a support volunteer, you can view similar projects here.

Where You’ll Be:  

You’ll be working at 1st Ave Pond, a quiet, behind the scenes natural area in the southernmost part of the City of Greeley. This site borders a small stretch of the South Platte River corridor and is currently closed to public access, allowing it to function as an important refuge for wildlife. With no formal trails or recreational use, the area provides undisturbed habitat for birds, small mammals, and other species that rely on intact riparian and wetland ecosystems.

What You’ll Do: 

Volunteers will help remove 10 to 15 foot Russian olive trees, an invasive species that threatens native vegetation and wildlife habitat along the South Platte River corridor. This project includes roles for both chainsaw certified volunteers and general volunteers. Chainsaw certified volunteers will cut Russian olive trees into manageable sections. Other volunteers will assist by moving cut material to a chipper staging area operated by the Forestry Division.

Only certified sawyers are permitted to operate chainsaws.

This project requires five B certified Chainsaw Sawyers. A certified Sawyers may participate under the supervision of B Sawyers.

If you are certified, please note this in the comments section during registration and email your certificate to the project manager.

All sawyers must hold a current First Aid and CPR certification in order to operate a chainsaw.

Interested in getting certified? Visit our Training Calendar to view upcoming training opportunities.

Why It Matters: 

Russian olive is designated as a List B species under the Colorado Noxious Weed Act, requiring active management to prevent its spread. These invasive trees displace native plants and wildlife and can consume up to 75 gallons of water per day, water that is critical for sustaining wetlands and the species that depend on them. Removing Russian olive at 1st Ave Pond helps restore native habitat, protect limited water resources, and strengthen the health of the South Platte River corridor. 

Eligibility Requirements: 

Ages 18+  

Project Difficulty: 

This project is considered difficult. Please check our difficulty rating criteria here for more details.  

Physical Considerations:

Expect physically demanding work, including moving heavy plant materials and working on uneven terrain. For volunteers not operating chainsaws, there may be lifting cut plant debris overhead at times, carrying logs, piling plant debris in one place, and using loppers. 

Access Factors:   

Vehicle Access: No vehicle restrictions – 2WD accessible

If you enjoy chainsaw projects, either as a certified sawyer or a support volunteer, you can view similar projects here.