Join Our Team

2026 Job Postings

Accepting applications until November 30, 2025

As we celebrate finishing our 10th year as a commercially authorized tour company, we are so excited to have an earlier start to our hiring process for 2026! We will be accepting online applications until November 30, 2025 and then scheduling zoom interviews in December 2025. We hope to have hiring decisions finalized in early January 2026. We truly appreciate your interest to join our team and help us serve over 6,000 travelers each year.

Guiding

Naturalist Hiking Guide (Full-Time & Part-Time)

Seasonal: March 16 - October 31, 2026

Note: Part-Time Winter Opportunities available December 20, 2025 - March 15, 2026

Location: Port Angeles, WA

The Position

Olympic Hiking Co. provides guided hiking tours, shuttles, and backpacking trips throughout Olympic National Park. Our team of Naturalist Hiking Guides facilitates small group tours, custom private tours, and step-on guide services daily from April 1 to October 31 each year. To ensure top-quality service and reliable availability for our clients, we employ a small team of full-time and part-time guides to help manage our tour schedule during especially busy days. Over the years, we’ve built a network of local guides who are passionate about leading memorable and informative trips for our guests, fostering a deeper connection to the outdoors.

What to Expect

Our Naturalist Hiking Guides assist with small group tours, custom private tours, and step-on guiding for cruise ship bus tours. Assignments for day tours rotate through top destinations in Olympic National Park, focusing on naturalist interpretation of the region’s ecosystems. For qualified applicants, custom private tour assignments may also include guiding more strenuous day hikes, which range from 6 to 10 miles. Guides with a Wilderness First Responder (WFR) certification are eligible to guide backpacking trips, typically lasting 4 days and 3 nights, covering 30-40 miles of hiking. A Wilderness First Aid (WFA) certification is a requirement for all guiding assignments.

Full-Time Schedule: 5 days on, 2 days off with a target of 3-4 assignments per week that are typically 5-hour shifts (half-day) or 10-hour shifts (full-day) generally between 30-40 hours.
Part-Time Schedule: Scheduled on ad-hoc basis for 1 or 2 days per week based on demand.

Open Full Job Posting

2026 Naturalist Hiking Guide Application

Name

First Name

Last Name

Email

Phone

Country

(###)

###

####

Full-Time or Part-Time?

If interested in other non-guiding positions, please indicate those here:

Do you currently live in the greater Port Angeles area?

Summarize your experience guiding, leading group hikes, or other outdoor recreation activities.

Why would clients enjoy a guided hiking tour with you? What will they remember most?

Leading group hikes with clients of different ages, abilities, and personal viewpoints can be quite challenging. As a guide, how would you manage the group morale, pace, and expectations to ensure a positive trip? What are your best group management tools?

Overview your knowledge base to answer questions about Olympic National Park's ecology, natural history, and key landmarks. Why will visitors see you as a local expert?

Tell us about your personal connection to Olympic National Park and why it is a special place for you personally.

If hired, what are your goals in working with Olympic Hiking Co. this season and in the future?

FINAL STEP: Please email resume to tommy@hikeolympic.com before application submission.

I have emailed my resume to tommy@hikeolympic.com before submitting my application.

Backpacking

Backcountry Guide (Part-Time)

Seasonal: June 1 - September 30, 2026

Olympic National Park & North Cascades National Park

The Position

Olympic Hiking Co. provides guided day tours, shuttles, and backpacking trips throughout Olympic National Park, serving over 6,000 travelers annually. In 2024, we expanded into the North Cascades through our Hike Cascades program, offering our guided day hikes, shuttles, and backpacking trips. We are expanding our backcountry guiding team to lead backpacking trips in both Olympic and the North Cascades. This summer, we plan to offer six group backpacking trips and accept private trips upon request. Qualified candidates may also lead lodge-based hiking tours or guided day tours based out of Port Angeles and Mount Vernon. Backpacking trips often involve 40+ hour workweeks, but are scheduled on an ad-hoc basis, resulting in a monthly workload typical of part-time hours.

What to Expect

Once assigned to a backpacking trip, guides participate in a pre-trip Zoom call with the Operations Team and may join an optional client call. A packing session is scheduled the day before the trip, typically from 5:00 PM to 7:00 PM. Guides are expected to be available from 2:00 PM to 7:00 PM for this preparation day. In the field, guides lead up to 8 clients individually or 10 with a co-guide. Trips range from 3-day, 2-night outings to 5-day, 4-night expeditions, with itineraries varying from beginner-friendly routes to challenging journeys covering 10+ miles with significant elevation changes in a day. Guides assist with water filtration, boiling water, camp setup, navigation, and maintaining a suitable pace. After the trip, guides assist with a “gear explosion” to ensure proper return and condition of gear and submit a detailed trip report via email the next day.

Open Full Job Posting

2026 Backcountry Guide Appliation

Name

First Name

Last Name

Email

Phone

Country

(###)

###

####

If interested in multiple positions, please indicate those here:

Do you currently live in Washington? If so, please share your current hometown.

Helpful for managing assignments for backcountry trips.

Where is your preferred guiding region?

Olympic National Park

North Cascades National Park

I'd be happy to guide in both!

Summarize your experience guiding, leading group hikes, and overall backcountry hiking experience.

Why would clients enjoy a guided backpacking trip with you? What key lessons or fun memories would they remember most?

Leading group hikes with clients of different ages, abilities, and personal viewpoints can be quite challenging. As a guide, how would you manage the group morale, pace, and expectations to ensure a positive trip? What are your best group management tools?

Overview your knowledge base to answer questions about the region’s ecology, natural history, and key landmarks. Why will visitors see you as a local expert? Specific examples for Olympic or North Cascades are most helpful.

Please briefly list all of your relevant certifications and leadership positions for guiding backcountry trips, wilderness medicine, risk management, and other group activities in the outdoors.

Tell us about your personal connection to Olympic and/or North Cascades and why it is a special place for you personally.

If hired, what are your goals in working with Olympic Hiking Co. this season and in the future?

FINAL STEP: Please email resume to tommy@hikeolympic.com before application submission.

I have emailed my resume to tommy@hikeolympic.com before submitting my application.

Operations

Guest Experience Specialist (Part-Time)

Seasonal: March 16 - October 31, 2026

Location: Port Angeles, WA

The Position

Olympic Hiking Co. provides guided hiking tours, shuttles, and backpacking trips throughout Olympic National Park. Our operations team works behind the scenes to provide logistics support, customer service, and monitor daily activities. We are hiring several Guest Experience Specialists to assist in welcoming our tour guests, managing customer intake forms, and organizing deliverables for upcoming tours. This is a part-time position with assignments scheduled in advance on an ad-hoc basis based on the weekly schedule.

What to Expect

Our Guest Experience Specialists can choose from two shift options: 7:00 AM to 10:00 AM or 12:00 PM to 3:00 PM (or both). These shifts align with guest check-ins, tour departures, shuttle activities, picnic order fulfillments, and rental car logistics. Team members will report to the Operations Team. We hope to build a small team of specialists to help us provide coverage for operational support seven days a week. Whether you prefer to work one day per week or multiple shifts, we welcome your help in ensuring smooth tour departures and a positive guest experience. It is a fast-paced, fun, and collaborative environment, where we have the special opportunity to meet travelers from around the world and provide them a sincere warm welcome.

Open Full Job Posting

2026 Guest Experience Specialist Application

Name

First Name

Last Name

Email

Phone

Country

(###)

###

####

If interested in multiple positions, please indicate those here:

Do you currently live in the greater Port Angeles area?

Summarize any relevant work history with operations management, logistics, sales, or other tourism related roles.

Overview experience in managing emails, answering phone calls, and other operations tasks in a customer-facing environment.

Provide examples of working in a team environment in managing projects, scheduling, or resource management.

Tell us about your personal connection to Olympic National Park and why it is a special place for you personally.

If hired, what are your goals in working with Olympic Hiking Co. this season and in the future?

FINAL STEP: Please email resume to tommy@hikeolympic.com before application submission.

I have emailed my resume to tommy@hikeolympic.com before submitting my application.

Hike Cascades

Hiking Guides & Shuttle Drivers (Part-Time)

Seasonal: June 15 - September 30, 2026

Locations: Bellingham, Mount Vernon, & Mazama, WA

The Position

As Olympic Hiking Co. enters its 11th year of operation in Olympic National Park, we’re thrilled to continue our expansion our guided tours, shuttles, and backpacking trips into the North Cascades and Mount Rainier through our growing Hike Cascades team. In 2025, we operated more than 40 guided day tours and trailhead shuttles in these new regions and are looking to add new qualified local guides and drivers in gateway communities like Mazama, Mount Vernon, Bellingham, and Olympia, as well as urban departure points like Seattle and Tacoma. While these seasonal positions may not offer consistent full-time hours, they represent an exciting step forward in developing a strong network of outdoor professionals in these communities and deepening our local partnerships.

What to Expect

Mazama: Departing from Mazama, we have established hiker shuttles along Highway 20 and up to Hart’s Pass. We hope to add 1-2 drivers to help us manage our shuttle schedule from July 1 – September 30 with our 10-passenger van. For qualified applicants, we anticipate occasional private guided hiking tour assignments for guests staying in Mazama and Winthrop that want to visit North Cascades National Park.

Bellingham & Mount Vernon: We offer custom private guided hiking tours in the North Cascades and Mount Baker region. Our guests frequently stay in La Conner and Bellingham. We also occasionally assist with shuttle services for hikers needing transportation along Highway 20 and to Cascade Pass.

Olympia: We facilitate private guided hiking tours of Mount Rainier National Park. Our guests frequently stay in Ashford or within Mount Rainier National Park.

Open Full Job Posting

2026 Hike Cascades Application (Guides & Drivers)

Name

First Name

Last Name

Email

Phone

Country

(###)

###

####

Do you currently live in Washington? If so, please share your current hometown.

Please indicate your preferred work location:

Bellingham / Mount Vernon

Mazama / Winthrop

Olympia / Seattle Area

I am relocating for this role and open for either one!

Please select your preferred position:

Hiking Guide

Shuttle Driver

I am open to doing both for the most hours possible!

Summarize your experience guiding hikes, leading groups, or other outdoor recreation activities.

Many of our guests are first-time visitors to the area. Why would our clients enjoy meeting you, feel welcomed, and enjoy their overall experience?

Leading groups of different ages, abilities, and personal viewpoints can be quite challenging. As a trip leader, how would you manage the group morale and expectations to ensure a positive trip? What are your best group management tools?

Overview your knowledge base to answer questions about the ecology, natural history, and key landmarks in the North Cascades. Why will visitors see you as a local expert?

Are you comfortable driving up to 300 miles in a day in a large 12 or 15 passenger van in remote areas? Our longest shifts are generally from 7:00am to 6:00pm with driving breaks throughout the day.

Tell us about your personal connection to the North Cascades and why it is a special place for you personally.

If hired, what are your goals in working with our Hike Cascades team this season and in the future?

FINAL STEP: Please email resume to tommy@hikeolympic.com before application submission.

I have emailed my resume to tommy@hikeolympic.com before submitting my application.

Future Positions

Interested for Future Opportunities?

Olympic Hiking Company LLC is a commercially authorized tour company within Olympic National Park, North Cascades National Park, Mount Rainier National Park, and various surrounding forest service districts. Founded in 2016, our team of about 20 employees help serve over 6,000 travelers annually each year. Our team is comprised of Naturalist Hiking Guides, Interpretative Tour Guides, Trailhead Shuttle Drivers, Backcountry Guides, and Operations Team Members.

If you are interested in applying for future positions with Olympic Hiking Co., please submit this contact form so we can notify you about upcoming openings. We generally post our summer season employment opportunities by February 1 of each year. Our positions are typically seasonal employment contracts from April 1 - October 31.

Please complete the contact form below to learn more about future positions.

Join the Adventure! We believe your passion and career should always align!