

Looking for an unusual summer job? Apply to be chef on the Windjammer Angelique that sails the Maine coast, with stops at Acadia National Park/Ben Magro for Looking for an unusual summer job? Apply to be chef on the Windjammer Angelique that sails the Maine coast, with stops at Acadia National Park/Ben Magro for Sail Angelique

It's bitterly cold, you're tired of snow and ice, and a seasonal job in a beautiful, and warm, location somewhere in the National Park System sounds ideal. So where do you look?

Well, you could go to the National Park Service's page on how to land a job with the agency. There you'll get a sense of what sort of jobs are out there, and you'll also find links to learn about internships with the agency and volunteer positions.

Internships are largely geared for students, from high school to graduate school students. There are internships specific to geology, more general natural resource programs, historic preservation internships, and even "maritime documentation" internships. Some of the positions include stipends.

You also could turn to USAJobs, a federal government website that allows you to search by agency, skills, or location for available positions.

Another avenue to pursue that will turn up more possibilities outside the National Park Service is Coolworks.com. It has a special section devoted to national park jobs. There you can search for jobs by the park of your choice.

For instance, this past Friday the Windjammer Angelique that sails the coast of Maine, within a yardarm of Acadia National Park, was looking for a chef for the upcoming summer season. Prefer a hotter, drier environment? There are a good handful of jobs -- housekeeping, grounds maintenance, bartenders, front desk -- available at Death Valley National Park in California. Want something a bit colder? Consider Denali National Park in Alaska, where there are naturalist positions as well as more mundane dishwashing and housekeeping jobs.

There's an opening for both an executive chef and sous chef at Wuksachi Lodge in Sequoia National Park in California, a sous chef position available at Shenandoah National Park in Virginia, a wilderness guide slot at Wrangell-St. Elias National Park in Alaska, and a slew of jobs at Yellowstone National Park in Wyoming, from retail sales to wildlife tour guides and not too far from the park an opening for a "wrangler with ferrier skills."

So, with a little time spent in front of a computer, you just might find your dream job for the upcoming summer.