Enjoy the Mountains of Montana

Don’t just visit Glacier National Park- immerse yourself in it.

Swan Mountain Outfitters is a family-owned company that provides interpretive horseback riding for the general public. We operate three corrals inside Glacier National Park and one location outside its West entrance that operates on USFS land. Please note: we are not a guest ranch, we are a high volume trail ride operation. Our full trail ride season runs from early May to mid October. Most of our wranglers will work 5 days a week from late May to mid September.

Employment with Swan Mountain Outfitters provides a unique, educational, and gratifying work experience in one of the most beautiful and rugged places in the world. While the work is demanding and the hours are long, our employees experience a one of a kind opportunity. Spend a season with us to make memories that will last a lifetime!

Additionally, we operate the Crown of the Continent Discovery Center, located just a mile and a half from the west entrance to Glacier National Park. We have a coffee & spirits bar, ice cream parlor, gift and outdoor gear shop, information and activity booking center and horseback riding corral trips available on the property. We are surrounded on all sides by business partners that offer hiking, fishing, whitewater rafting and lodging, making the Discovery Center the ideal one stop shop for your Crown of the Continent adventure vacation!

Considerations

Employees must be 18 years old and able to pass a background check
Our seasonal positions can sometimes accommodate late arrivals or early departures, but preference will be given for applicants who can commit to the full season (at a maximum, May 1st to October 15th).
Applicants should be aware that most jobs are physically demanding and require heavy lifting, bending, standing and kneeling for multiple hours a day, five days a week
Corral manager, packer, and trail ride wrangler applicants must be comfortable around and knowledgeable about horses
Corral manager, packer and trail ride wrangler applicants must have-or be willing to obtain-valid CPR and Wilderness First Aid certifications
If you plan to take advantage of employee housing, a personal vehicle is still highly encouraged as most of our locations may be anywhere from 30 minutes to 2 hours away from amenities and places of interest. In the event that you do not have a vehicle, SMO can provide transportation to the Kalispell bus station, the Kalispell Airport (airport code FCA), or the Whitefish and West Glacier train stations
The cost of round trip transportation to Northwest Montana is the responsibility of the employee, and should be considered before applying

Employment Benefits

Corral manager, packer, cook, and trail ride wrangler positions are salaried and include room and board. Office or store positions are hourly, room and board may be available upon request. Pay is received via direct deposit every two weeks.
Room and board information:
- Seasonal employees of the three Park corrals (Apgar, Lake McDonald and Many Glacier) are housed in ranch-style bunkhouses with indoor bathrooms, located within Glacier National Park. West Glacier employees are housed in “Wrangler Village” which is a traditional canvas wall tent camp with latrine. Employees will share a room or tent with fellow employees; we do our best to avoid coed quarters.
- Ingredients for all meals are provided, but employees are responsible for the preparation/clean up duties. All employees will participate in a rotational cook schedule where they will be required to cook and clean for the crew approximately once per week
Corral staff will likely receive additional income in the form of tips from clients. Retail/baristas also may earn tips.

Swan Mountain Outfitters – Glacier Division is an equal opportunity employer.

Prepare for Employment

Interested in some of the positions we offer, but lack experience with horses? Do you just need to brush up on your horsemanship skills? Or, are you thinking about working with horses as part of your full time career? If the answer to any of these questions is yes, you need to check out our Swan Mountain Wilderness Guide School.

Corral Manager

West Glacier, MT

Seasonal

Glacier Division

Mid Level

Position
Corral managers must be able to perform all the functions of a trail ride wrangler and possess additional leadership and organizational abilities. Managers oversee a staff of 6-10 wranglers and a herd of 30-50 horses.

They act as a liaison between the company and the National Park Service or US Forest Service rangers. They may sometimes need to deal with dissatisfied customers or resolve conflicts between staff.

Managers are ultimately responsible for assigning tasks, inventorying supplies, and resolving issues related to staff meals and housing.

They will report to the general manager to coordinate trail and facility maintenance.

Current CPR, Wilderness First Aid, and Food Handlers Safety certifications preferred.

Our season runs from May - September. Managers must be available for the entire season.

Primary Functions and Responsibilities
Managers work 5-6 days a week, 12-14 hours a day.

Daily tasks include:

Preparing all horses for trail rides (ie. grooming, saddling, etc.)
Office tasks (opening and closing duties, accounting for cash flow, communicate with reservations staff, take payments/reservations, etc.)
Leading guests on trail rides during which you will assist guests onto their horses, share interpretive information, converse with guests, and strive to be the highlight of our guests' trip
General horse chores (scooping manure,throwing hay, cleaning troughs, fix fencing, feed grain, etc.)
General operations maintenance (trail work, tack repair, coordinate with maintenance team for repairs,etc.)
Splitting cooking and housekeeping duties with coworkers
Making wrangler schedule and assigning tasks
Managing herd health (identifying and treating illness and injury, choosing which horses are working, feeding decisions, etc.)

The ideal applicant:

Has excellent communication skills and is patient, yet firm, in explaining and enforcing safety policies with staff and clients
Is well organized and has great attention for detail, as they must document and log various activities, keep their office tidy, communicate needs for hay and supplies in a timely fashion, and create staff and horse work schedules.
Is able to stay calm, yet act quickly, under pressure to respond to various crises, such as equipment malfunctions, illness or injury to staff/clients/horses, or wildlife encounters
Is punctual, hardworking, and dedicated

Our Rides and Horses
First and foremost, this is a customer service position. Wranglers can expect to be in the saddle leading guests 4-8 hours a day and must be able to provide a safe, enjoyable, educational experience while maintaining an upbeat, professional attitude. Managers may ride less per day as they will be responsible for the entire corral.

Our rides range from 1-8 hours in length and cater to first-time riders. All of our rides are conducted strictly at the walk. Terrain varies from relatively-flat dirt to steep, rocky switchbacks up a mountain.

Please note that we are a "nose-to-tail" trail ride operation. We do not start young horses or do any arena or ranch work.

Managers should have extensive experience in caring for horses. They should be able to:

Catch, groom, tack up a horse (all disciplines welcome, we can teach Western tack)
Ride at walk, trot, canter
Confidently ride a variety of horses they are not familiar with yet
Identify signs of illness/lameness/injury
Perform basic equine first aid
Identify and fix ill-fitting tack
Multi-task while riding
Work through any problems calmly and professionally

Compensation

$2,500/month + tips
Room and board
Glacier National Park employee entrance pass

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