If you love backpacking, canoeing, and helping others get outside, you might be looking for a job as an outdoor guide or adventure guide! Becoming an outdoor guide is a fun and active career, and starting your career as an adventure guide is much easier than you think!

What is an Outdoor Adventure Guide?

Adventure guiding falls under the umbrella of Outdoor Education— a field focused on teaching in and about the outdoors, environmental stewardship, and of course, adventure guiding. 

As an Outdoor Adventure Guide, you’ll be a leader of small or large trips in the wilderness. In this role, the Adventure Guide acts as a leader, helping people new to the outdoors or new to this discipline navigate the environment around them. Guides are responsible for safety, comfort, and educating participants on their trips. 

In order to become an outdoor guide, you’ll likely need a Wilderness First Responder First Aid certification. Many (but not all!) outfitters offer training and certifications in-house. 

How can I become an Outdoor Adventure Guide?

There are many paths to becoming an outdoor or adventure guide! The most common path into the field is to begin with an entry level guiding job and work your way up (this is what I did!). Another common way into the field that can lead to a lot of potential for career advancement within the field is to get a degree in Outdoor Education. Yet another way to enter into the field of Adventure Guiding is to take a wilderness education course, and then enter the guiding field. 

1) Getting an entry-level guiding job

I got my first adventure guiding job after graduating college with a degree in a completely unrelated field! I had very little experience in the outdoors, and even less in coastal kayaking. The company I worked for my first year trained me providing instruction in sea kayaking, outdoor leadership, and risk management. Since then, I’ve worked four summers as a guide, done several sea kayaking expeditions, and currently hold an ACA Level 3 Certificate and am working toward my Level 4!

Breaking into the outdoor industry as an outdoor guide can be intimidating, but myst outfitters invest in training, so no discipline-specific experience is necessarily required. Many companies are willing to hire you if you have a positive attitude and willingness to learn!

What will you need? At least CPR and First Aid certifications as well as good interpersonal skills. 

2) Getting a degree in Outdoor Education to become an Adventure Guide

Getting a degree in Outdoor Education is a great way to prepare yourself to be an adventure guide and guide trainer, and is the perfect qualification for some of the most highly sought adventure jobs in the world. Course work will focus on skills like adventure leadership, natural history, and risk management.

Here are some cool options to consider:

• Northland College in Ashland, Wisconsin offers a hands-on program in Outdoor Education right on the shores of Lake Superior.
• Prescott College in Arizona’s BA in Adventure Education will prep you to be a wilderness educator while studying in the backdrop of beautiful Northern Arizona, with opportunities to study in the outdoors all over the world.
• Vermillion Community College in Ely, Minnesota offers a two year degree in Outdoor Leadership, with numerous certificate add-ons. Much of your study will be conducted in the Boundary Waters Canoe Area, one of the most popular wilderness areas in the United States.
• Humak University in Finland offers a 3.5 year degree in Outdoor Education, where students learn a wide range of outdoor skills, including sea kayaking, cross country skiing, and dogsledding.
• Folk Schools in countries such as Norway, Denmark, Sweden, and Finland are popular options for adventure study as well. Folk Schools often abandon the traditional classroom model of grades and curriculum, and instead focus on an immersive learning experience. Working knowledge (but not necessarily fluency) in Norwegian is strongly recommended.

3) Take a Wilderness Education Course

If you’re looking to pursue outdoor education without taking a 2-4 year degree program, consider taking wilderness education courses to prepare you for a career as a guide!

NOLS offers courses in both Wilderness Medicine and Risk Management training, two subject areas that are incredibly important in Outdoor Education. NOLS also offers expeditions for those looking to get experience outside without necessarily leading a trip, but these expeditions do tend to be expensive. Semester programs include adventures like backpacking in the Patagonia range, semesters in Baja, Alaska, or the Rockies, and even a program in India.

I’m a woman who wants to work as an adventure guide. How much sexism will I experience?

One of the most common questions I get asked as a woman who guides is how much sexism is in the industry? Obviously, I can only speak for my own experience. 

I have anecdotally heard from other women stories about discrimination and drinking culture in raft guiding companies specifically, but in general those stories really do seem to be worse among raft companies. 

In guiding in both the San Juan Islands and Lake Superior region, I have experienced very little sexism and truly feel like I have been given the same opportunities and respect as my male peers.  I will say in the first two years of guiding I definitely occasionally felt like I wasn’t respected as much or easily as my male coworkers, but in hindsight I think my first two years I really was focused in on the idea that I wouldn’t be as respected as them, and often found myself exaggerating my skills and experience in order to try and demand more respect. I think that showed, and my own trying really hard to prove myself ultimately made me appear less competent than being honest about what I know and what I don’t would have. 

Now, as a more experienced guide and sea kayaker, I have not in the past three years (except on the Internet) ever experienced someone undermining my skills and am pretty much always treated as one of the more experienced and knowledgeable people in the room. 

One thing I will say, is that despite this I have on average been tipped significantly less than male guides on average. This is partially due to experienced women guides being scheduled more often on children’s trips or organized women’s trips, and organized trips just tend to tip less. This is just something to watch out for, and bring up to your employees if you notice you’re experiencing. 

If you’re a woman looking to get into guiding, I encourage you to go for it, and trust that people will trust you! You’ll definitely experience challenges in the guiding industry, but honestly no more so than any other industry. 

The Secret to Adventure Guiding Jobs…

Adventure guiding is the best job in the world, but there is almost always a shortage of guides, and outfitters are chronically understaffed. Guiding jobs entail long hours and hard work, with the reward of getting to work outside everyday. There is a huge demand for qualified adventure guides in just about every region that has adventure or outdoor tourism— you just have to know where to look.

Where to find Adventure Guiding Jobs:

One way to find Adventure Guiding Jobs is to join an Outdoor Education focused Facebook group. Another way is to research the area you want and locate a company yourself.

First, decide what type of guiding it is you want to do. Are you passionate about cross country skiing? Look into ski guiding in places like Yellowstone National Park, Alaska, or Northern Minnesota. First, search for the trips themselves, then locate a company you like. Check for applications on their website, and if you can’t easily find one, don’t be afraid to email and ask if they are looking for extra help this season! In general, seasonal adventure guiding jobs hire 4-6 months before the start date, but there are always companies understaffed before the seasons start.

How much money does an Outdoor Adventure Guide make?

As a first-year outdoor adventure guide working full time at five days a week, you can expect to make around 2,000 a month for peak months before tips. Usually after tips, you make closer to 2,500 a month as a first year guide. 

For a summer season, you can expect steady work mid-June through mid-September. It is in your best interest to not take any time off in the summer and save your vacation for the shoulder season. 

Pay rates and tips both tend to increase for returning guides, and rates can increase significantly for overnight guiding trips. For example, guiding overnight trips in the San Juan Islands I made closer to 4,000 a month after tips when willing to work back to back trips. For private guiding, something you can get into after a few years of experience and certifications, you can make much more. 

Can I make a living as an outdoor adventure guide?

Yes and no— if you plan to work seasonal guiding jobs May-September then December-March and keep your living expenses simple, you can probably scrape by with a few odd jobs on the side. Usually, this is a totally doable setup for someone in their early 20s looking for long term adventure. 

Beyond this, usually career guides will want to transition out of full-time guiding and into management, programming, guide training, coaching, or a trip leader role. There are a lot of different options if you’re looking for this kind of role!

You’ll probably never make millions as an outdoor guide (or be to buy a house), but outdoor adventure guiding is a very fulfilling and fun job. 

Another option for guides is diversifying your work— this is what I do. While I work summers as a sea kayaking guide / adventure guide, I often work winters as a freelance writer and photographer, focusing on writing and creating guide books and free outdoor resources (like the one you’re reading right now!!)

Quick tips to score a job as an Outdoor Adventure Guide:

• Get a Wilderness First Responder Certification: this is usually not required for most entry-level positions, but will make you a more appealing candidate and is required for most second year guides or anyone solo guiding. 
• Broaden your search! Everyone wants to be a backpacking guide in Yellowstone or sea kayak guide in Antarctica, but did you know there are hundreds of interesting opportunities throughout the US and abroad? Look into dogsled guiding in the Minnesota BWCA, or whitewater rafting in Montana, or sea kayak guiding in Acadia National Park
• The most important thing you can bring to any guiding job is a positive attitude— don’t quit when it gets hard, and remember to be a team player! Guiding can be really hard, especially mid-season when everyone has been working nonstop for days on end. It’s how you take those hard days and whether or not you still love it then that will determine whether or not this is a good long-term career for you!

Where can I find more resources for learning about the outdoor industry?

• learn where to find used outdoor gear! As a guide, you’re going to burn through gear, especially clothing. Finding used gear at a discounted your price is 100% going to be your best friend. When I first started guiding, I wasted a lot of money on new gear. Now, it’s been almost three years since I’ve actually purchased a piece of new gear with the exception of my sleeping bag. 
• Looking to get into kayak guiding? Get ahead of the curve with 15 helpful hacks for kayak camping!
• Check out my full archive of blog posts and outdoor resources!

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