Organizations

Keep America Beautiful runs one of the country's largest networks of community cleanups, giving families a direct, hands-on way to care for the places they love. From local litter pickups to the Great American Cleanup, there is a entry point for every age and schedule.

Leave No Trace Center for Outdoor Ethics teaches families how to care for wild places through seven practical principles and a growing catalog of workshops, online courses, and volunteer programs. The Boulder-based nonprofit has trained millions of outdoor visitors and offers entry points for every age, from a first trail walk to a weekend Master Educator course.

NOLS has been teaching wilderness skills and leadership in the backcountry since 1965, training everyone from teenagers on extended expeditions to adults earning wilderness medicine certifications. Families connect through youth courses, Wilderness First Aid training, and a deep catalog of expedition programs that build real competence in real terrain.

The National Environmental Education Foundation connects families to public lands through hands-on volunteering, nature programs, and the country's largest single-day public lands event. It is a practical starting point for families who want to do more than visit a park — they want to help take care of one.

Outward Bound USA has spent more than sixty years taking young people and families into the wilderness to discover what they are made of. Their expeditions cover everything from week-long solo canoe trips to family courses that parents and kids tackle together. The organization runs courses across the country through regional schools, making it accessible from the Cascades to the Everglades.

Project Learning Tree has been putting hands-on, forest-focused education into classrooms and backyards for more than four decades. Its activity guides and training programs give parents, teachers, and youth leaders practical tools for turning any outdoor space into a classroom worth exploring.

The Student Conservation Association places teenagers in real conservation crews inside national parks, forests, and public lands across the country. Families with teens ready to trade a summer of screens for trail work, habitat restoration, and genuine outdoor responsibility will find a direct path in.