Get Involved: Hatcheries

Do you enjoy camping/RV'ing, working outdoors, interacting with people, and have good customer service and communication skills? Become a volunteer Hatchery Host at Rifle Falls Hatchery - the largest hatchery in the state!

We are relatively secluded, about 30 minutes from Rifle, at the base of Little Box Canyon in Western Colorado. We have some of the most beautiful campsites and the best hatchery crew around! Rifle Falls Fish hatchery sees 7,000 visitors a year, including school tours, summer camps and vacationers.

Host Responsibilities:

• Visitor Center assistance and answering visitor questions
• Conduct tours of the hatchery, distribute fish food, and encourage visitors to sign the visitor log.
• Grounds maintenance, including mowing, weed whacking, and watering. Tractors and mowers are utilized for grounds work.
• Help keep public restrooms clean.
• Other projects as assigned

We are looking for volunteers with good communication, and any mechanical or landscaping skills.

Elevation: 

7,000 ft (If you have health concerns that elevation may affect, please don't apply.)

Looking for 2 host couples for the 2025 season.

Couples/pairs are invited to apply. Couples with kids and couples still in their career working remotely are also being considered.  Hosts are permitted to have pets.

See what a previous volunteer host had to say and apply today!

"This was the most beautiful campsite we have ever had. This canyon has so much to offer volunteers. The staff were a joy to work with and always willing to share information. The work is enjoyable and rewarding if you enjoy working with people. An added bonus was watching the golden eagles from fledglings through their early flights. Wildlife comes through the hatchery and even to your campsite… My greatest regret is our own inability to travel, because we miss the Rifle Falls Fish Hatchery family."

The Roaring Judy Fish Hatchery covers 783 acres, including two miles of the East River and four fishing ponds. The majority of the property is dedicated to wildlife habitat and includes amazing opportunities for wildlife viewing, fishing, and hiking.

Responsibilities:

Our volunteer hosts live on-site and:

• Provide hatchery tours to the public.
• Assist visitors with questions about the hatchery property.
• Maintain hatchery grounds, including but not limited to: mowing, weed whacking, landscaping, planting and watering flowers, picking up trash, maintaining trails and way finding signs, cleaning the visitor center, and some equipment maintenance.
• Hosts may also assist with fish culture work when staff is shorthanded.

Public speaking/good communication skills, landscaping, and equipment maintenance would all be beneficial, but not required.

Elevation:

 8,200 ft

Positions are full for the 2025 host season but feel free to apply to be put on a waitlist!

Couples/pairs are invited to apply. Hosts are permitted to have pets.