Projects You Support

Trailer Pad Upgrades

Enhancing Visitor Experience - Past Projects

Project Title: Trailer Pad Upgrades

Project Purpose: To upgrade at least four trailer pads at various locations in Shenandoah National Park to provide full-service hookups allowing the park to recruit long-term, full-time volunteers to assist in two primary areas, the bear management program and visitor center operations.

Project Goals:

  • to provide a greater presence in the picnic areas and campgrounds to reduce the bear/human interactions
  • to provide consistent support for the visitor center operations allowing Shenandoah National Park staff to provide more programs and utilize the Mobile Visitor Center

Project Impact: An overall greater presence in the campgrounds and picnic grounds leading to more opportunities to provide education to park visitors and greater compliance with park regulations, particularly food storage and disposal. For those volunteers supporting visitor center operations, it will create a more consistent schedule that would allow park staff to plan additional programs, increase their roving sessions, and increase the utilization of the Mobile Visitor Center. With multiple full-time volunteers in these positions, the park could see an increase of at least 100 hours per week. The one-time cost of upgrading these trailer pads will enhance the volunteer program’s ability to recruit the ideal candidate and will provide a tremendous benefit to the park for many years. This would also increase the overall hours of volunteer service in Shenandoah National Park by about 10%.  

Project Funding: $88,087 

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Help us keep bears wild!

Keeping bears wild starts with keeping them away from human food sources. The most effective way to do that is through bear-proof storage lockers, or “bear boxes.” Right now, only 63% of the park’s campsites have a bear box at the site, leaving nearly 140 campsites without safe food storage. The Trust has committed to making that 100% by funding the purchase and installation of these boxes at every single campsite in Shenandoah National Park. 

A black bear peeks around a tree.   

Each box comes with a $2,000 price tag, and the Trust has set a goal of raising $280,000 to purchase and install the remaining 138 boxes, ensuring that visitors stay safe, and bears stay wild.