Trash Tracker

Trash Tracker 2025 schedule is up!

 

 

The Original Volunteer Vacation

Since 1989, the Trash Tracker program has been a co-operative effort between the National Park Service (NPS) and Lake Powell Resorts and Marinas (Aramark) to clean up the 1,960 miles of Lake Powell's shoreline.

Participants in the program are members of the NPS Volunteer-In-Parks (VIP) Program and spend 5 days aboard a houseboat that is owned and operated by Aramark. Volunteers for the Trash Tracker program clean up trash along the shoreline. The Trash Tracker's destination changes on each trip.

 

The "Trash Tracker" houseboat.

 

A Bit of History

• 1989: Steve Ward, native son of Page AZ, founded program as a reaction to the lake level dropping for the first time and exposing large amounts of trash

  • He approached NPS with the idea of working with his employer, Del Webb (Now Lake Powell Resorts & Marinas)

  • Concessioner provided boats, NPS provided volunteers

  • He thought program would be obsolete after five years

  • “After I retire I’m sure I’ll look back at the Trash Tracker Program as my biggest contribution to Lake Powell. After all, it’s my back yard. I’ve got to do all I can to keep it clean.”

• 1993: returnee volunteers Bruce George and Pat Origas are married on board the Trash Tracker houseboat. They continued to volunteer and eventually became captains.

• 2004: Trash Tracker program receives Take Pride In America volunteer program award

• 2016: Salt Lake City magazine’s best of awards: Voluntourism

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How Has The Program Helped?

The Trash Tracker is used in conjunction with Glen Canyon National Recreation Area's Water Quality Program to keep Lake Powell pure. In past years, canyons and beaches have closed due to excessive human waste, but now Lake Powell can be considered one of the cleanest lakes on the country.

 

Trash Tracker Benefits

Data collection may not have been perfect in the early days of the Trash Tracker program, but here is a collection of the number of volunteers, the amount of shoreline they cleaned, and the pounds of trash picked up since we started keeping those records.

This table shows the pounds of trash picked up over the years Trash tracker has been in service

Year	Pounds of trash	bags of trash	volunteers	hours donated	miles of shoreline cleaned

Download This Dataset

 

Volunteer Requirements

• Must be at least 18 years of age

• Be willing to work 8 hours a day

• provide your own travel to Glen Canyon and meals for the duration of your trip

Work will be performed under the direct supervision of the Trash Tracker pilots or their designated representative. Project work will be performed during daylight hours, in an outdoor setting, and volunteers should expect to be exposed to rugged, rocky terrain and extreme weather conditions. Work will involve picking up, transporting, and unloading trash, debris, and waste collected from the Lake Powell shoreline.

The Trash Tracker Program is a high visibility project and those associated with the program must present a professional image at all times. Volunteers will, in the course of their work, have a great opportunity to enhance the experience of numerous visitors here at Lake Powell.

Qualifications

All volunteers must be 18 years of age or older and willing to perform basic clean-up functions. Volunteers must be in good health and able to do bending, lifting, and walking for extended periods in temperatures reaching the 100's during the summer months. Due to close living conditions aboard the houseboat, volunteer must be adaptable, flexible, and respectful of others.

Limitations

Although the assigned location may be near developed park areas, volunteers should be prepared to have only basic amenities available for the entire trip. The park and Lake Powell Resorts will provide certain items. All volunteers must provide food and other personal items not on this list. The Trash Tracker Pilot, according to the work schedule, will coordinate leisure time.

Time Commitment

Volunteers will be asked to commit to working a minimum of 6-7 hours per day removing trash, debris and waste from the shoreline of Lake Powell. Crew members bring their enthusiasm and gear. They also bring their own breakfast and lunch food and provide one dinner for all crew members one night of the trip. If you plan on applying, please read the Equipment List page. Participants receive a Trash Tracker t-shirt, a magnificent experience on Lake Powell and the personal satisfaction of taking care of the park.

 

Apply for a Trip

Trips are limited to 4 volunteers and are booked on a first come first come served basis. Volunteers must be at least 18 years old. This is a very popular program and trips fill quickly. The more flexible you are, the more likely it is that we will be able to place you. Please refer to the trip calendar below for exact dates.

Trip placements will be determined based on: application accuracy, order applications are received, and # previous TT trips (higher priority for new folks).

For group applications, designate a group leader to apply for the entire group. Only one application will be accepted per group.
Therefore, if a second application email is received that contains the same group member names as a previously received application, the second/most recent application received will be used, and the initial application discarded.

The following information must be included in your application email to be considered:

• top 3 trip choices, ranked (no more than one 7-day trip in an applicant's top 3 choices)
• # in group (max 4)
• first/last name of group leader
• phone # of group leader
• first/last name of each group member
• email address of each group member (if missing, app will not be considered)
• # of previous TT trips, for each group member

There will not be a follow-up form to fill out. In order to be booked with your friends, please email ALL of your info for the bullet points to Trash Tracker Reservations. If this link does not work, please send your email to glca_trackergrit (at) nps . gov with the subject "Trash Tracker Reservation"

 

Trip Schedule

For 2025, Trash Tracker trips will depart from Wahweap for the first half of the season, from Bullfrog in the second half of the season. There are fifteen 5-day trips and three 7-day trips. Trips are subject to change and/or cancellation. Applications will be accepted beginning Feb 1, 2025 at 7:00am MST. Early applications will be discarded.

TRIPS HIGHLIGHTED ORANGE ARE FULL

TRIPS HIGHLIGHTED RED ARE CANCELED

Trash Tracker 2025 - Trip Schedule
Dates	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	13	14	15	16	17	18	19	20	21	22	23	24	25	26	27	28	29	30	31
May	WW Trip 1 May 1-5							WW Trip 2 May 8-12 FULL							WW Trip 3 May 15-21 FULL
June					WW Trip 5 June 5-9 FULL							WW Trip 6 June 12-16 FULL							WW Trip 7 June 19-23 needs 1							WW Trip 8 June 26-30 FULL
July								WW Trip 9 July 8-1 FULL									BF Trip 10 July 17-21 FULL							BF Trip 11 July 24-28 FULL							Trip 12
August	BF Trip 12 July 31 - Aug 4 FULL						BF Trip 13 Aug 7-11 needs 3							BF Trip 14 Aug 14-18 FULL							BF Trip 15 Aug 21-25 FULL
September				BF Trip 16 Sept 4-8 FULL							BF Trip 17 Sept 11-15							BF Trip 18 Sept 18-24

Wahweap Trips are highlighted YELLOW

Bullfrog Trips are highlighted BLUE.