The Information Office

When you call Rocky Mountain National Park's Information Office to ask for help in planning your next visit, to check on road conditions, or to find out more about the park, you will experience something that is becoming increasingly rare in our society. Your call will be answered by a real human being from 8:00 am to 4:30 pm seven days a week, summer or winter, thanks to a predominantly volunteer staff. Approximately 22 volunteers donate more than 2,800 hours of their own time each year to answer your information needs. One full time park ranger and one summer seasonal park ranger supplement their remarkable efforts.

The main job of the Information Office is written and verbal interpretation of the park and its resources by phone, letter, and e-mail. In recent years requests for information have increased, and the ways in which people request information have changed. At one time, most folks wrote letters or called. Over the past few years e-mail requests have increased dramatically (6,087 in 2007, up from 4,348 in 2006) and add to the growing numbers of phone and written requests. Last year the Information Office staff answered over 40,000 telephone calls.

Information Office staff members also report that many questions have become more complex and sophisticated as many callers or writers have already done some research for themselves on the internet or in published materials. These two factors have resulted in an increased staff size and a need for the volunteers to be even more knowledgeable about the park, its programs, and surrounding communities. Information Office volunteers must also have excellent "people skills," especially during very busy times when requests for information increase (during “transition times” when weather can cause Trail Ridge Road to open and close several times in one day the Information Office has received over 400 phone calls in one eight-hour shift). The Information Office's goal is for every requester to get the information he or she needs.

If you are interested in becoming a volunteer in Rocky Mountain National Park's Information Office, or in one of the myriad of other volunteer jobs available in the park, visit our Volunteer and Employment Opportunities page to learn more!