Volunteer crews fanned out across Big Cottonwood Canyon on Aug. 18, picking up trash at five trailheads and picnic areas in a morning blitz organized by Save Our Canyons.
The nonprofit's 2026 Wasatch Stewardship Program brought participants to the Big Cottonwood Canyon Park & Ride, where they paired off and headed upcanyon to tackle Dogwood Picnic Area, Birches Picnic Area, Storm Mountain Picnic Area, Butler Fork Trailhead and Mill D South Trailhead.
The sites are familiar ground for Cottonwood Heights residents.
Storm Mountain and Butler Fork draw heavy summer traffic from hikers, picnickers and families cooling off along the creek, and the canyon mouth sits minutes from neighborhood doorsteps.
Save Our Canyons, led by executive director Jack Stauss, is focusing the stewardship program on Big Cottonwood Canyon throughout 2026 before shifting to Little Cottonwood Canyon in subsequent years, according to the organization's wildfire resilience campaign page. The Central Wasatch Commission, a government body that includes board representation from Cottonwood Heights and Holladay, provided financial support for the effort.
The day before the cleanup, Stauss spoke publicly about the pressures facing the Wasatch canyons. "Overuse and over-development have long been a burden to our natural resources like ecosystem habitat, dispersed recreation, and critically, our watershed," he said in an Aug. 17 statement opposing a federal review of wilderness protections. The canyon's watershed supplies drinking water to hundreds of thousands of Salt Lake Valley residents, according to Stauss.
Save Our Canyons thanked participants in a blog post but did not release a volunteer headcount. The organization described the event as a self-guided morning cleanup with multiple pairs covering the five sites.
Residents who want to join future stewardship days can email staff member Sam at [email protected] or sign up at saveourcanyons.org/get-involved/wilderness-stewardship-project. No specific date for the next cleanup has been announced.
Upcoming community events
- The Holladay speaker series returns Sept. 9 with a water history lecture at Holladay City Hall.
- The Blue Moon Festival headlines Holladay's fall arts calendar.
