How To Become A Trail Guide: 5 Tips To Live Your Dream

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To become a trail guide is not as easy as it might seem. Even though many people might want to become a trail guide, you have to have a couple of qualifications to ensure that you effectively become one. Understanding how to become a trail guide is important if you love the wilderness and you want to make it a career.

It might not be easy to become a trail guide and studying is part of the job. However, you will have plenty of fun once you have attained these qualifications. The knowledge you accumulate will help you understand nature and animals much better. In this guide, we will be looking at how to become a trail guide and what you need.

How To Become A Trail Guide In Simple Steps

To show you what you will need to become a trail guide, we must break down these steps efficiently. We have isolated a couple of steps and these will need to be followed to attain a certain level of knowledge when you want to become a trail guide. Here is what you will need to do or go through to become a trail guide.

Customer Service Skills

One of the first things that you will need to do is understand customer service. You will be spending plenty of time with some of your customers and you need some great bedside manner. There are plenty of customer service courses that you can try and these will teach you all the basics you need to know about customers.

While this qualification is not always mandatory, it can be a great addition to your resume and when you have customer service experience on your resume and the skills, you will be able to deal with bad customers. Even though customers are often disrespectful, you will still need to place their needs before your own.

Physical Abilities

One thing that many people often neglect about the outdoors is the physical skills you will need to get the job done. Unfortunately, it is not a simple walk in the park and you will need to know your way around your physical skills. You might need some level of endurance if you are hiking and the ability to move things out of the way.

Additionally, your senses can be your best friend and you will need to use your senses to find out where the animals could be. Your eyes are just as vital, as they will allow you to spot animals more rapidly. We recommend doing some physical exercises and understanding how you will have to adapt to the environment.

Knowledge Of The Trail/s

If you are a trail guide in a single location, you might only need to know the area you are working in. However, many trail guides are freelancers and they travel across the country, taking people on different trails. The guide always needs to be familiar with the trail and especially the dangers of the trail.

As a trail guide, research will be your best friend, especially when visiting new environments. You might need to do the trail on your own to make sure that you understand some of the ins and outs of the trail. If you can find a few trail experts to assist you, you might find some interesting information that you can convey to the people you are taking on the trail.

Qualifications

The big one and one of the main reasons that many of you are here is the qualifications. Unfortunately, there are a couple of qualifications you need to ensure that you can practice your profession as a trail guide. Yes, these qualifications are costly, but once you have them, you should be ready to go. Here are some of the qualifications you might need:

First Aid: One of the first things that you will need to do is your first aid certification. While this might not seem like much, your first aid certification is important to save lives. The Red Cross – CPR, First Aid, and AED Certification is one of the most prominent.
Wilderness First Responder: With this certification, you will learn to use the environment as your assistance to treat patients. The National Outdoor Leadership School – Wilderness First Responder Certification is one of the most prominent.
Wilderness First Aid: Wilderness first aid or WFA is one of the primary courses that will help you in treating patients outdoors. We would recommend the National Outdoor Leadership School – Wilderness First Aid Certification as the top option.

While there are plenty more that you can choose from, these are some of the most important qualifications you will need as a trail guide. When you market yourself as an industry-specific trail guide, you might need to follow a couple of different courses which gives you credit for your skills in these scenarios as a trail guide.

Experience Is Important

Even if you have all the courses and the knowledge behind your name, you will need to physically have some experience when it comes to the outdoors. The experience you have will ensure that you can make decisions on the fly. Keep in mind that not everything is scripted and you might often have to think outside the box.

We recommend that you build up some experience in the location you are targeting to become a trail guide. You can do plenty of these trails on your own, or you can have other experienced trail guides give you some assistance. However, you must have the right level of experience to get the job done as a trail guide.

How To Become A Trail Guide Wrap-Up

If you have a passion for the outdoors and you want to share some of your skills and experience with other travelers, you might want to become a trail guide. However, you need to understand how to become a trail guide and follow the right procedures. Let us know what you think about becoming a trail guide and if we have missed anything important.

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