What Does a Wilderness Guide Do

When it comes to the most important skills required to be a wilderness guide, we found that a lot of resumes listed 22.0% of wilderness guides included cpr, while 15.2% of resumes included responder, and 9.5% of resumes included canoe. Hard skills like these are helpful to have when it comes to performing essential job responsibilities.

How To Become a Wilderness Guide

If you're interested in becoming a wilderness guide, one of the first things to consider is how much education you need. We've determined that 78.7% of wilderness guides have a bachelor's degree. In terms of higher education levels, we found that 9.9% of wilderness guides have master's degrees. Even though most wilderness guides have a college degree, it's possible to become one with only a high school degree or GED.

Wilderness Guide Career Paths

Average Salary for a Wilderness Guide

Wilderness Guides in America make an average salary of $63,944 per year or $31 per hour. The top 10 percent makes over $228,000 per year, while the bottom 10 percent under $17,000 per year.
Average Wilderness Guide Salary
$63,944 Yearly
$30.74 hourly

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Roles and Types of Wilderness Guide

There are several types of wilderness guide, including:

Guide

Role:

A tour guide takes visitors on guided tours at historical or culturally relevant sites that are unfamiliar to them. Guides share interesting information and entertaining insight into the places to provide tourists with a more in-depth experience. Following the lead of a tour guide in a foreign place usually guarantees that you will not get lost, and you will find the best spot to see and have a great meal, or a fun night out.

Guides sometimes obtain vocational training in travel or tourism, but they are not required to have a degree to hold this position. Language skills are great to have, and experience in the service industry, such as hotels or travel trades, can also be useful.

You will be walking around a lot as a guide, so make sure you are at least more fit than the average tourist if you take on this job. You should not shy away from speaking in public. Unless you advertise yourself as a Zen guide, you will be expected to keep the info and fun titbits coming all day long.

  • Average Salary: $34,479
  • Degree: Bachelor's Degree

Tour Guide

Role:

A tour guide takes visitors on guided tours at historical or culturally relevant sites that are unfamiliar to them. Guides share interesting information and entertaining insight into the places to provide tourists with a more in-depth experience. Following the lead of a tour guide in a foreign place usually guarantees that you will not get lost, and you will find the best spot to see and have a great meal, or a fun night out.

Guides sometimes obtain vocational training in travel or tourism, but they are not required to have a degree to hold this position. Language skills are great to have, and experience in the service industry, such as hotels or travel trades, can also be useful.

You will be walking around a lot as a guide, so make sure you are at least more fit than the average tourist if you take on this job. You should not shy away from speaking in public. Unless you advertise yourself as a Zen guide, you will be expected to keep the info and fun titbits coming all day long.

  • Average Salary: $32,323
  • Degree: Bachelor's Degree

Escort

Role:

The responsibility of an escort is to guard individuals or people on sightseeing and tours through places of interest such as art galleries, public buildings, and industrial establishments. You are to describe your points of interest to group members and also respond to their questions. For every place of interest, there are laws to be obeyed. Therefore, you must ensure your visitors abide by the establishment or tour regulations and safety practices. To entice your visitors, you will greet, register visitors, and also issue any necessary identification badges for safety and identity.

Additionally, you are to distribute brochures on every place of interest, show audiovisual presentations, and explain establishment operations and processes at your sites. You are also expected to provide directions and other important information to visitors. Other responsibilities include ensuring safety by providing first aid, directing emergency evacuation, and providing information about wildlife and their habitat to avoid unnecessary situations.

As an escort, you must put your visitor's safety first. The basic skills of an escort are excellent communication skills, passion for traveling, creative thinking, and the ability to respond to emergencies quickly. The average salary of an escort is $29,000 yearly. Escorts must have a bachelor's degree in Communication, Criminal Justice, or other related fields.

  • Average Salary: $29,252
  • Degree: Bachelor's Degree

States With The Most Wilderness Guide Jobs

Number Of Wilderness Guide Jobs By State

RankStateNumber of JobsAverage Salary
1California57$64,911
2Florida21$43,528
3Texas18$54,203
4Colorado17$34,479
5Ohio15$59,195
6New York14$72,616
7Illinois14$50,269
8Montana11$28,057
9Pennsylvania10$67,238
10Michigan10$61,076
11Nebraska10$38,120
12Massachusetts9$78,247
13Virginia9$72,163
14Arizona9$53,263
15North Carolina8$56,013
16Alaska7$78,463
17Tennessee7$52,279
18Georgia7$48,359
19Utah7$35,372
20Minnesota6$50,391
21Missouri6$43,550
22Oregon6$40,050
23Connecticut5$80,363
24Indiana5$61,599
25Arkansas5$47,072
26Washington5$35,039
27Delaware4$62,429
28Maryland4$64,951
29Maine3$68,674
30Alabama3$46,342
31Oklahoma3$44,606
32Vermont2$73,996
33West Virginia2$59,498
34Nevada2$50,377
35Kansas2$47,839
36New Jersey1$69,183
37Wisconsin1$52,147
38Mississippi1$48,664
39South Carolina1$48,382
40New Hampshire0$76,499
41Rhode Island0$64,817
42Kentucky0$51,635
43New Mexico0$53,232
44Louisiana0$49,368
45North Dakota0$42,042
46Iowa0$41,972
47Hawaii0$41,434
48South Dakota0$35,333
49Idaho0$35,237
50Wyoming0$32,982

Wilderness Guide Education

Wilderness Guide Majors

Wilderness Guide Degrees

Bachelors

78.7 %

Masters

9.9 %

Associate

6.1 %

Top Colleges for Wilderness Guides

1. Johns Hopkins University

Baltimore, MD • Private

In-State Tuition

$53,740

Enrollment

5,567

2. Washington University in St Louis

Saint Louis, MO • Private

In-State Tuition

$53,399

Enrollment

7,356

3. Hunter College of the City University of New York

New York, NY • Private

In-State Tuition

$7,182

Enrollment

16,205

4. Swarthmore College

Swarthmore, PA • Private

In-State Tuition

$52,588

Enrollment

1,544

5. University of Washington

Seattle, WA • Private

In-State Tuition

$11,207

Enrollment

30,905

6. New York University

New York, NY • Private

In-State Tuition

$51,828

Enrollment

26,339

7. Stanford University

Stanford, CA • Private

In-State Tuition

$51,354

Enrollment

7,083

8. Pennsylvania State University

University Park, PA • Private

In-State Tuition

$18,454

Enrollment

40,108

9. Duke University

Durham, NC • Private

In-State Tuition

$55,695

Enrollment

6,596

10. Harvard University

Cambridge, MA • Private

In-State Tuition

$50,420

Enrollment

7,582

Top Skills For a Wilderness Guide

Choose From 10+ Customizable Wilderness Guide Resume templates

Zippia allows you to choose from different easy-to-use Wilderness Guide templates, and provides you with expert advice. Using the templates, you can rest assured that the structure and format of your Wilderness Guide resume is top notch. Choose a template with the colors, fonts & text sizes that are appropriate for your industry.

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Wilderness Guide diversity

Wilderness Guide Gender Distribution

Male
Male
62%
Female
Female
38%

After extensive research and analysis, Zippia's data science team found that:

  • Among wilderness guides, 38.1% of them are women, while 61.9% are men.

  • The most common race/ethnicity among wilderness guides is White, which makes up 69.5% of all wilderness guides.

  • The most common foreign language among wilderness guides is Spanish at 43.5%.

Online Courses For Wilderness Guide That You May Like

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1. Medical Emergencies: CPR, Toxicology, and Wilderness

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In this course, you will develop the knowledge and skills to assess and stabilize certain types of patients for transport. By the end of this course, you will be able to: (1) Identify the signs and symptoms associated with a patient in shock, to describe the major categories of shock, to assess a patient with signs of shock and formulate a plan for treatment to stabilize the patient for transport, (2) Identify a patient in cardiac arrest and to describe the components of high performance CPR...

2. International Travel Preparation, Safety, & Wellness

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Whether you've traveled before or not, living and working overseas can be challenging. Learn how best to prepare and make the most of your time internationally. This course will prepare you to work and live overseas. It explores the epidemiology of common morbidity and mortality among travelers and examines key prevention, safety, and travel medicine principles and services to contextualize risks and maintain wellness. The course reviews applicable interventions, appropriate vaccines, and...

3. Occupational Health & Safety Training

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Workplace Health and Safety Course For Employees & Managers...

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Top Wilderness Guide Employers

Most Common Employers For Wilderness Guide

RankCompanyAverage SalaryHourly RateJob Openings
1Adobe$144,222$69.341
2Open Sky Wilderness Therapy$134,960$64.887
3High Country Financial$84,561$40.652
4BSA$63,876$30.711
5True North Holdings$61,456$29.552
6Aspiro Wilderness Adventure Therapy$61,225$29.448
7Nantahala Outdoor Center$60,979$29.321
8Trails Carolina$60,057$28.878
9SOS International$55,925$26.891
10Double H Ranch$54,928$26.413