It depends on where you are and what you want out of it.

I flew search-and-rescue missions for a mountain-town CAP squadron for ten
years, and got in a lot of quality training and experience for very little
money. Most of the flying was paid for by the Air Force. I learned a ton,
and logged over 250 hours in the squadron's C-182. I joined as a 100-hour PP
and left as a pretty experienced 500-hour instrument-rated PP ASEL/ASES.
The SAR missions are tremendously rewarding: you have a sense you're giving
something very valuable back to the community. Occassionally you help to
save a life.

Not all squadrons are set up to make flying this rewarding. As one CAP vet
told me, "There are flyin' outfits and salutin' outfits." I'd try to find
out first what sort your local group is. It's a volunteer organization, and
as in any volunteer org, if the local group allows its narcissists to assume
command, the experience can . . . erode.

Also there's a ton of paperwork. As in the military, nothing counts, and
nothing happens, until the forms are filed.

I'm eternally grateful to the organization for the experiences it gave me.

Seth