Volunteer – Chattooga Conservancy

Volunteer

Be a part of protecting the watershed

The Chattooga River watershed encompasses 180,000 acres in Georgia, South Carolina, and North Carolina. With ample national forest land, tons of recreational opportunities, and a growing number of visitors and residents each year, the need to take proactive measures to protect our native ecosystems is increasingly important. Get involved in one of our upcoming events, or sign up to receive email alerts about future opportunities!

Current Volunteer Opportunities

Office Volunteers

NOVEMBER 12th, 13th, OR 16th, 2026

- - - - Event: Office Volunteers
        Date: November 12th, 13th, or 16th, 2026
        Location: Chattooga Conservancy office, 867 Chattooga Ridge Rd, Mountain Rest, SC 29664
        Time: flexible

We are looking for some office help this fall! We need 2-3 volunteers to help stuff and mail letters for our fall appeal, likely either November 12th, 13th, or 16th. Timing is flexible.

Email ericka@chattoogariver.org to join.

STEKOA CREEK PARK WORKDAY

FRIDAY, NOVEMBER 13th, 2026

- - - - Event: Stekoa Creek Park Workday
        Date: Friday, November 13th, 2026
        Location: Stekoa Creek Park in Clayton, GA (Parking at: MedLink Rabun, 811 US-441, Clayton, GA 30525)
        Time: 2:00pm – 4:00pm

Stekoa Creek Park workday events are a great opportunity to connect with the community, support our mission, and make a real impact. We are working alongside the Headwaters Master Gardeners to pick up trash, remove invasive species (privet, ivy, multiflora rose), and plant some new trees and shrubs! Whether you’ve volunteered before or this would be your first time, we welcome you to be part of it.

Other Details:

Bring gloves, and tools if you have them! Shovels, rakes, and clippers are ideal.
We will have a water cooler, but bring a personal water bottle to refill!
Park in the MedLink Rabun parking lot and meet in the picnic area.
No “sign up” needed, just show up! (& you are under no obligation to stay the whole time)

Email isabel@chattoogariver.org with any questions.

Can’t make these events? Sign up for volunteer alerts to be notified about future opportunities!

Past Volunteer Events

CHAUGA WATERSHED CLEANUP

SUNDAY, OCTOBER 25, 2026

- - - - Event: Chauga Watershed Litter Cleanup

On a beautiful late October afternoon, Chattooga Conservancy staff and volunteers removed 6 bags of trash from Riley Moore Ford Road access on the Chauga River. Thank you to our dedicated volunteers, and to PalmettoPride, for helping sponsor the event!

EARTH DAY CHATTOOGA LITTER CLEANUP

APrIL 20-25, 2026

Litter cleanup volunteer event along the Chattooga River corridor, where participating groups from the Chattooga Whitewater Shop, Mountain Sprouts Learning, the U.S. Forest Service, Clemson Whitewater Club, Chattooga Conservancy, Southeastern Expeditions, Wildwater, and Nantahala Outdoor Center removed litter from designated river sections. In total, the event covered 30 river miles, from the Warwoman Road bridge on the West Fork, down to Lake Tugalo. A special thank you to Life In Long Creek for hosting the celebration community supper at Humble Pie. The cleanup event was sponsored in part by a Litter Prevention Grant from PalmettoPride.

STEKOA CREEK PARK

Saturday, March 14, 2026

- - - - Event: Stekoa Creek Park Workday
        Date: Saturday, March 14th, 2026
        Location: Stekoa Creek Park in Clayton, GA (Parking at: Georgia Mountain Market, 811 US-441, Clayton, GA 30525)
        Time: 10:00am – 12:00pm

STEKOA CREEK PARK - SCOUT EVENT

Saturday, February 28, 2026

- - - - Event: Stekoa Creek Park Workday
        Date: Saturday, February 28th, 2026
        Location: Stekoa Creek Park in Clayton, GA (Parking at: Georgia Mountain Market, 811 US-441, Clayton, GA 30525)
        Time: 10:00am – 3:00pm

Walhalla Scout Troop 45 collaborated with the Chattooga Conservancy to restore a section of trail at the southern end of Stekoa Creek Park. Scouts and scout leaders helped shape several new trail steps from rot-resistant locust wood previously felled at the park. The Scouts hewed and processed the locust wood steps themselves using traditional hand tools such as foot and bowl adzes and brace-and-bit hand drills. Troop 45 then installed the new steps and helped root out invasive species along the trail.

STEKOA CREEK PARK

Saturday, FeBruary 14, 2026

- - - - Event: Stekoa Creek Park Workday
        Date: Saturday, February 14th, 2026
        Location: Stekoa Creek Park in Clayton, GA (Parking at: Georgia Mountain Market, 811 US-441, Clayton, GA 30525)
        Time: 10:00am – 2:00pm

Volunteers from Master Gardeners, Clayton Rotary Club, and Chattooga Conservancy joined to plant six native trees (Redbud, Dogwood, and Sugar Maple) along an area of the park’s upper embankments bordering Highway 441. The Master Gardeners continue to lead the ongoing work of cleaning up the park’s understory; volunteers helped in this effort by picking up litter and removing invasives.

REPORT AN ISSUE IN THE WATERSHED

Have you seen an issue in or around the Chattooga Wild and Scenic corridor that you would like to report? We are doing our best to track these issues and organize volunteers to address them. Please let us know in the form below (or by emailing info@chattoogariver.org ) if you have seen non-native invasive species presence, significant trash accumulation, or other problems impacting the watershed.