Every spring, the Los Angeles River comes alive, not just with birds and flowing water, but with thousands of Angelenos and Friends Of The LA River rolling up their sleeves to make a difference. The Great LA River CleanUp, now in its 35th year, is more than a volunteer event. It’s a citywide celebration of community, resilience, and renewal. From families and students to local businesses and activists, people from every corner of Los Angeles come together to care for this iconic waterway.
This year The Great LA River CleanUp will span four sites across two weekends. Each site is a living part of the River’s ecosystem and picking up trash there helps to restore habitat, improve water quality, and protect wildlife that depend on the River.
🌊Saturday, Oct. 11
Site 1: Willow St. Bridge
Clean up under the Willow Street Bridge, where the River widens into a channel framed by concrete banks yet still lined with willows, cattails, and the calls of waterbirds.
Site 2: Bond Park
Bond Park sits alongside a rare soft-bottom stretch of the River, flowing right next to one of L.A.’s most beloved green spaces.
🌊Saturday, Oct. 18
Site 1: Sepulveda Basin
Clean up at the Sepulveda Basin Athletic Complex, where wide fields meet one of the most important natural stretches of the River.
Site 2: Compton Creek
Compton Creek flows quietly through the heart of the city, and it’s one of the easiest cleanup sites to reach from the Metro A Line.
🌊How to Join the River Crew
You can sign up to join any of these cleanup days at the link here!
🌊Donate to the Cause
If you’re unable to join the cleanup crew, you can help by sending funds to the cause. By donating, you’re helping sustain this movement, one that proves a cleaner, greener future for the LA River is possible when we all pitch in.
📍Where: LA River
📅When: Saturday, Oct 11 and 18, 2025