Volunteer in the beautiful California State Parks of the Sierra foothills!
A wide variety of volunteer opportunities to match any interest are available at Empire Mine State Historic Park, South Yuba River State Park, and Malakoff Diggins State Historic Park. Volunteers can participate in any or all of the following activities after completing comprehensive training offered each spring and fall.
Empire Mine SHP:
• School Tours: Lead tours and/or Assist with 3rd-5th grade school programs in the mine yard.
• Tour Guides: Lead Estate & Mine Yard Tours, 20-minute historic building tours, Garden Tours, and/or Nature Trail Tours.
• Tour Assistants: Follow on tours to assist guests and help protect the park's historic features.
• Trail Rovers: Answer visitors' questions and keep trails clean while you hike through the beautiful forest.
• Blacksmiths: Interact with visitors while you use period tools to demonstrate making ironwork in a forge. Forged items are sold in our gift shop to support the program.
• Gift shop: Meet people from around the world, and help support our park's non-profit association through sales that benefit our volunteer and educational programs
• Landscape Gardening: Help with gardening and maintenance of our vintage rose garden and other Estate landscaping.
• Living History: Wear Living History period clothing reproductions while giving tours and/or staffing special events.
• Special Events: Staff and/or assist with interpretive park events such as Miner's Picnic or Holidays at Empire Mine.
• Facility Maintenance: Help park maintenance staff with construction projects, fixing historic facilities, and other handyman needs
• Administrative Assistance: Basic computer tasks to document Empire Mine's history, improve interpretive programs, and other administrative assistance
South Yuba River SP:
• Visitor Center: Greet visitors to the historic community of Bridgeport and operate the non-profit's gift shop
• Gold panning: Teach visitors and/or students how to pan for gold at our gold troughs
• School programs: Lead tours and/or assist with 3rd - 5th grade school programs
• Trail Rovers: Answer visitors' questions, and keep trails clean while you hike
• Nature tours: Lead or assist with wildflower, geology, and other natural history hikes
• History tours: Lead or assist with tours of the historic Bridgeport Covered Bridge and other buildings.
• Habitat Restoration: Participate in weed eradication, native plant garden maintenance, adopt your own plot to maintain healthy native plant habitat, and other habitat restoration activities
Malakoff Diggins SHP:
• Town Tours: Lead or assist with tours to share the colorful history of North Bloomfield and the effects of the Malakoff Diggins hydraulic mining operation.
• School programs: Lead tours and/or assist with 3rd-5th grade school programs
• Gold panning: Teach visitors and students how to pan for gold at our gold troughs
• Living History Special Events: Help bring the town to life by staffing and/or assisting with annual events such as Humbug Day.
• Visitor Center: Assist park staff by addressing visitors’ questions, outside or inside the museum.
• Trail Rovers: Answer visitors' questions, keep trails clean, and report trail maintenance issues.
Spring 2026 Training Dates
Volunteer training for Empire Mine State Historic Park, South Yuba River State Park, and/or Malakoff Diggins State Historic Park begins with a required 2-day Orientation, held at Empire Mine SHP.
After the Orientation, the specific training for each volunteer activity varies, and will be scheduled separately with interested applicants.
Orientation sessions are from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m., and will be offered on both Fridays and Saturdays. Trainees only need to attend one of the days each week (the Friday and Saturday trainings have the same content).
Required Orientation Training dates (held at Empire Mine SHP):
Day 1: Friday April 24th or Saturday April 25th AND
Day 2: Friday May 1st or Saturday May 2nd
Apply Now!
RSVP is required to attend the volunteer training: email Volunteer Coordinator Jean Rhyne at Jean.Rhyne@parks.ca.gov or call (530) 686-7110 with the dates you plan to attend.
Before the training, get started by setting up an applicant profile on our Better Impact volunteer program webpage. If you are interested in volunteering at multiple parks, make only one profile, and additional parks can be added to your profile after training.
Empire Mine State Historic Park: Click here to see our volunteer opportunities and apply
South Yuba River State Park: Click here to see our volunteer opportunities and apply
Malakoff Diggins State Historic Park: Click here to see our volunteer opportunities and apply
For more information about the program or if you have trouble setting up a profile, email or call the Volunteer Coordinator.