Also called: Backcountry Instructor, Outdoor Educator
Leads multi-day backpacking, climbing, or canoe expeditions for schools and outdoor programs.
You spend 14 days in the backcountry with 10 teenagers, teaching map reading, cooking, and leave-no-trace camping. You handle blisters, thunderstorms, and homesickness. Programs like NOLS and Outward Bound hire leaders every season.
Approximate: anchored on Bureau of Labor Statistics data for a broader job group.
Certificate, about 1 year after high school. Wilderness First Responder (WFR) plus outdoor leadership training.
Ways in: Certification, 4-year college, On-the-job training. Training cost: Under $15k.
Majors to look at: Outdoor Recreation, Outdoor Education, Environmental Studies.
Growing about average.
Low risk for 10 years. Leading groups on multi-day trips and handling emergencies in the backcountry is human work.
Classes: Physical education, Earth science, Health.
Official data: O*NET occupation 39-9032.
Career Universe is an early version. Pay, training and AI-risk figures are estimates to start your own research, not verified facts. The research was written with AI research assistants, checked by validation scripts and spot-checked by hand. Check anything important with schools, employers and official sources. How the numbers work.