How to Visit Yosemite for a Volunteer and Spa Experience with Yosemite Facelift and Rush Creek Lodge
Sustainable Travel & Spa Experience: Rush Creek Lodge guests who participate in Facelift will receive a complimentary detox for face and feet that includes a mini facial and a magnesium foot soak!
Millions of visitors travel to Yosemite every year to enjoy the natural beauty of the national park and its surrounding communities. With the visitors comes trash.
In 2004, Ken Yager, president of Yosemite Climbing Association, founded Yosemite Facelift as a way for climbers and visitors to give back to Yosemite after the busy tourist and climbing season. Sponsors set up tents at the Yosemite Valley Visitor Center, and anyone can sign up to volunteer for an hour or the entire week. Yosemite Facelift comes on the heels of National and World Cleanup Day, which falls on September 18, 2021.
In 2019 (the event’s 16th year), around 3,000 volunteers participated in the six-day event and collected close to 16,000 pounds of trash – much of which will be recycled and kept out of landfills. To date, Yager’s efforts have contributed to the removal of 1 million pounds of trash. In 2007 Facelift earned its first big news break, resulting in a five-minute spot on ABC’s World News Tonight. “Ever since then, it’s been really big,” says Yager.
With the success of Facelift, Yager is working on expanding cleanups in other national parks. He coordinates with the National Park Service and his sponsors The North Face, Subaru, Patagonia, and others. He’d like to clean up Shenandoah, Rocky Mountain, Joshua Tree and the Grand Canyon. It is with hope that Yosemite Facelift should inspire others to not only clean up parks, but their communities as well.
What to Know about Operation Facelift and how to participate:
When is Operation Facelift?
Operation Facelift takes place from September 21-25, 2022.
How can I participate in Operation Facelift?
In order to participate in Operation Facelift, you must pre-register at the Operation Facelift website. You’ll take a pledge to consider the 7 Leave No Trace principles and build awareness about stewardship with your own actions. You should pre-register by September 13 if you plan to participate.
What will I do as a volunteer with Operation Facelift?
Volunteers are given vests, canvas bags, gloves and litter sticks, as well as free admission into the park where they are free to roam and collect trash. Trash must be returned to the booth by 5:00 pm to be weighed and sorted.
Besides trash collection, what other activities will be part of Operation Facelift?
Facelift offers centralized activities in the center of the park at Yosemite Village, including panels, concerts and evening raffles and provides camping for 500 people throughout the week.
Where can I stay during Operation Facelift?
If you’re looking for some soothing relaxation after a full day of volunteering, one great option is Rush Creek Lodge, Yosemite’s modern interpretation of a classic mountain lodge.
Rush Creek’s Spa is offering an exclusive “thank you” experience for lodge guests participating in Facelift. After contributing to the clean up effort, guests will receive a complimentary detox for face and feet that includes a mini facial and a magnesium foot soak.
Filled with innovative elements inspired by the natural beauty, features, and power of Yosemite, the spa’s amenities include a one-of-a-kind indoor warm waterfall cove designed to offer refreshment and renewal by lowering one’s blood pressure and improving physical and mental health while enjoying nature’s therapeutic effects.
Also unique to the lodge are the warm river rock beds inspired by lazy afternoons lying on Yosemite’s smooth, sun-baked granite, and the covered, heated outdoor spa area which provides a year-round, cozy environment with multiple water features, a relaxing lounge area, fresh mountain air and beautiful scenery.
Read more: Spa Profile: Rush Creek Lodge in Yosemite, California
Other options include camping and other local hotels. Be sure to make your reservation ahead of time, as hotel accommodations and camping spots book up fast.