Our latest cleanup was about 45 minutes north of where the Driftless Area ends. Riverwalk Park in North Branch, MN was absolutely littered with trash and we wanted to do what we could to improve the area. The North Branch of the Sunrise River flows through the park, and most of the trash was in the river. Some of the things we found were pretty wild, and we were happy to remove them from the river and get them in the garbage can.

The North Branch of the Sunrise River eventually flows into the Sunrise River which eventually empties out into the St. Croix River. We want to make it a point that our Corona Cleanup initiative isn’t locationally bound to the Driftless Area. Riverwalk Park is well out of the Driftless yet it is still extremely important to clean up. The water that runs through the Sunrise River is eventually going to pass through the Driftless Area through the Mississippi River before dumping out into the Gulf of Mexico. Our beloved Driftless Area is so interconnected with the surrounding regions. When talking about protecting the Driftless, we would be remiss in our mission if we also did not focus on the neighboring areas as well. The Driftless Area will absolutely be/has always been our focus, no doubt about that! But when you see places like Riverwalk Park in North Branch, it is still extremely important to do what we can.
What made Riverwalk stand out was the uniqueness of the items we removed. It ended up being a 50 pound pickup, which is nowhere near our largest. However, it featured some items I would have never thought I’d need to pick up. The one that really sticks out to me is the lid of a trash can. It’s a very standard item, but something about it upside down floating in the river stuck between some driftwood really surprised me. On the way out, I noticed that the trash can at Riverwalk Park had a padlock attaching the lid to the can itself. I guess the city of North Branch got tired of their lids ending up in the River. I can’t say I blame them!
Some other items we found were a christmas ornament, an inflatable ball that had a spiderman logo, and a tire (that is unfortunately still out there because no matter how hard I pulled, I could not get it to budge from the riverbed). I also found a full-length hose, probably around ten feet, that I admittedly thought was a snake at first.

This cleanup was a fun one! It was quick. We got in and we got out. The difference in how the creek looked was amazing. If you’re in the North Branch area, go check it out!