Any participant under 18 years of age is considered to be a minor.
Please email our Trail Work Coordinator if you have any questions.
Volunteers aged 16-17
If accompanied by a parent or legal guardian, volunteers aged 16-17 may show up to do trail work with no prior arrangement. The standard Sierra Club Liability Waiver (provided at the trailhead) will be signed on the minor’s behalf by their parent or legal guardian.
Volunteers in this age group may on occasion work unaccompanied by a parent or legal guardian—only by prior arrangement, and at the discretion of the crew leader. Our “minor volunteer waiver package” (which includes the Sierra Club Liability Waiver and Minor Medical Treatment Authorization, plus any forms required by the land agency for minors to work on that particular project) will be sent to the volunteer by email. The volunteer must print and complete these documents in advance, have them signed by their parent or legal guardian, and bring the documents to the project meeting place to be handed to the crew leader before work commences. If a minor volunteer shows up with the requisite paperwork absent or incomplete (including missing signatures), we regret that they will not be permitted to participate in trail work that day.
A volunteer aged 16 or 17 who attends trail work with an adult who is not their parent or legal guardian—for example, an older friend/sibling, their friends’ parent, a teacher or scout leader—is classed as an unaccompanied minor.
Volunteers aged 15 or below
Participants aged 15 or below may attend only with a parent or legal guardian, and at the discretion of the crew leader, who should be contacted in advance by the parent or legal guardian to request permission for the child to attend, on a project-by-project basis. We ask you to do this because some of our projects are unequivocally unsuitable for younger volunteers. Conversely, a small number of projects are explicitly designed for families with children to take part. Most fall somewhere in the middle.
The supervising adult is strongly encouraged to participate in at least one trail work activity with our crew in advance of attending with the child, so they can assess whether the child’s maturity level and interests are a good match for the working environment.
The child must be supervised by the parent/guardian at all times. This means staying within line of sight of one another, and within range for clear verbal communication. The crew leader will at times be occupied with other volunteers on different sections of the trail, and will not be able to always give you and your child direct observation.
The crew leader may limit the child’s participation to certain activities, or prohibit the use of certain tools. The Sierra Club will not be held liable if an accident occurs as a result of the crew leader’s instructions not being followed.
Please pay close attention to your child’s physical and mental state throughout the day. Fatigue and inattention (boredom or distraction) are among the biggest contributors to accidents in the outdoors. Safety is our priority, and you are encouraged to stop working and leave the project early if either you or your child no longer feel you are able to give the activity your full attention. You will sign the “early sign-out” box on the Sierra Club liability waiver if you need to depart before the event has officially concluded.
Last updated: 10-09-2019