As the official nonprofit partner of the Chesapeake & Ohio Canal National Historical Park, the C&O Canal Trust is your connection for hands-on restoration, preservation, and conservation.
You can help the C&O Canal reach its vast potential as an educational, recreational, historic, environmental, and scenic resource by volunteering in the many programs administered by the Trust.
The C&O Canal Trust, our official park partner group, also provides quality and meaningful volunteer opportunities within the Park. Their volunteer opportunities include:
- Quartermasters. The Canal Quarters program engages volunteer Quartermasters who maintain, promote, and protect the historic lockhouses now available for guest overnight visits.
- C&O Canal Pride Days. The annual springtime C&O Canal Pride Days prepares the Park for the peak visitor season by tackling the backlog of conservation and maintenance projects such as painting, raking, and the removal of trash and overgrown vegetation.
- Canal Stewards commit to mile-by-mile maintenance adoption packages along the Canal—similar to the "Adopt-A-Highway" concept. The Trust holds volunteer Stewards events at Great Falls.
- Volunteer Project Leader Corps: Think you work best as a group leader? Assist in large scale projects by leading teams of volunteers alongside Trust and Park staff.
- Cultural Resources Volunteers: Help scan historic photos and slides, or document and transcribe oral histories.
- Corporate Events: The Trust offers an array of volunteer projects for corporate groups along the Canal to suit most all locations and skill levels.
We also work with the C&O Canal NHP to identify specific needs, and provide volunteers throughout the Park, in various capacities from working in the visitor centers to manning the Canal boat, and everything in between.
With your help, the Trust will continue to protect, restore, and promote the incomparable C&O Canal NHP for current and future generations to enjoy.
For more information on any of the above programs, or to sign up today, contact C&O Canal Trust Program Manager, Becky Curtis, at 301-745-8889 or volunteer@canaltrust.org.
