2025 Coastal Cleanup Day at San Francisquito Creek

The City of Menlo Park and Grassroots Ecology are partnering to host over 100 volunteers for Coastal Cleanup Day at San Francisquito Creek. This annual event brings communities together throughout the state to clean California's beaches, lakes, and watersheds. Join us as we remove trash and recyclables from our local watershed to celebrate and enhance our beautiful waterways.

Waivers/Registration: All volunteers attending must SIGN TWO WAIVERS 1) Grassroots Ecology (Eventbrite, this one) and 2) San Mateo County (click here, follow step 2 or 3). Youth under 18 must have their legal guardian approve the waivers on their behalf. Volunteers age 12 and under require an accompanying adult.

Parking: Street parking available along Alma St. next to the train tracks. There is no nearby official bike parking, but you can leave it at the meeting location – there will be at least one staff to look over it.

Alternate Transportation: From Caltrain. Alight from Palo Alto Station and walk/roll north on Alma St. Go straight through El Palo Alto Park, crossing a pedestrian bridge over the creek towards the meetup location.

VTA (Santa Clara County) and SamTrans (San Mateo County): Take any bus (e.g. 22, Rapid 522, ECR) that stops at the Palo Alto Transit Center. Take the pedestrian underpass to cross under the train tracks to Alma St. Then use the Caltrain directions to head towards the meet up location.

Meeting Space: We will meet by the curb where East Creek Dr and the train tracks meet. There are no public toilets. The nearest public restrooms are located at Burgess Park 0.4 miles away and El Camino Park 0.5 miles away.

Prepare for Picking up Trash Outdoors:

• Face mask for COVID-19 safety (optional)
• Reusable water bottle (filled with water)
• Snacks, if desired
• Long pants, long sleeves recommended
• Sturdy closed-toed shoes that can get dirty
• Hat/sunscreen or rain gear/boots
• Epi-Pen or allergy medicine, if applicable
• Plan for potential exposure to sun, poison oak, ticks, prickly plants

Optional (but highly encouraged) :

• Bucket
• Gardening gloves
• Trash picker, or large long tongs
• Shovel (for digging buried shopping carts out of the creek bed)

We will provide light snacks, water jug, disposable gloves, trash bags, and a limited number of trash pickers.

Event Cancellations:

We are committed to the safety of our staff and volunteers. In the event that we must cancel a workday due to extreme weather conditions or poor air quality, a Grassroots Ecology staff person will reach out via email no later than 5:00 PM the day prior to this event.

Join Us!

Grassroots Ecology encourages people from all identities and backgrounds to participate in our programs. Many of our programs are outdoors and involve moving and working in a variety of landscapes. If you have accessibility concerns (e.g. allergies, limited mobility, learning differences), our projects are flexible and we are happy to work with you. Please reach out to the workday facilitator so we can prepare for your participation.

Accessibility concerns? Questions? Cancellations? Contact: [email protected]

Host or Publisher Grassroots Ecology