NEDERLAND — After the biggest yard sales of the year helped to motivate residents of the Peak to Peak area to practice some spring cleaning and get rid of their quirky though useful items, the question arises of what to do with all the useless junk that can’t be repurposed. 

Luckily, every year Boulder County and the Town of Nederland team up to host Town Clean-Up Day at the Nederland Transfer Station and Recycling Drop Off at 286 Ridge Road.

The anticipated event comes at the perfect time of year, as residents literally line up along the highway to take advantage of the discounted trash drop-off and free recycling. 

On Saturday, June 6, 2026, cars filled to the brim with miscellaneous debris, pickup trucks hauling loads of detritus in their beds, and vehicles of all sorts pulling trailers full of random rubbish and refuse, were queued up as early as 7 a.m., awaiting the gates’ opening right at 8. 

The Town of Nederland provided helpful infographics online, which mapped out the operation, detailing to residents how to properly pack their truck beds and highlighting the different areas that haulers will have to travel to in order to dump their wood scraps and scrap metal, bicycles, electronics, data for shredding, hazardous materials, tires, mattresses, and other appliances and hard plastics. 

Before the gates were opened, Nederland Parks Department Director Nicki Dunn gathered her team of Boulder County and Nederland Town staff, as well as community volunteers. The group signed waivers, put on their hard hats and safety vests, enjoyed some coffee and donuts—provided by Josh Harrod of 8z Real Estate—and listened to Dunn as she went over the safety protocols for the event. 

In a slight change from years prior, when Dunn cruised back and forth in the Town’s utility vehicle, ensuring operations run smoothly, this year Dunn took her position at the front gate, ushering in each vehicle, inspecting their haul and then pointing them in the right direction. 

Nederland Parks Department Director Nicki Dunn discusses safety protocols with her team.

Photo by Christopher Kelley

Esteemed Parks employee Mark Schlossler had the honor of managing all of the operation’s moving parts, from the front entrance to all the different dumping stations to the most important duty of all: making sure everyone remained safe. 

Seven dumpsters were supplied this year, and several vendors returned to offer their specialized trash removal services, including Boulder County—who showed up in force to handle hazardous materials and electronics—Eco-Cycle, Data Destruction, and Veolia (formerly CleanEarth). 

This year, though it looked like there were a lot fewer mattresses being discarded than in the past, it was noted that a lot more residents brought big hauls, all made up of wildly disparate trash categories. 

Three of the dumpsters became full before 9 a.m., requiring all operations and vehicle traffic to stop so that Town staff could utilize their industrial excavator to crush down the rubble and make room for more. The same process had to be repeated less than 20 minutes later. 

By 10:30 a.m., the dumpsters were packed as tightly as could be and the whole event was over, with Dunn counting an overall total of 120 vehicles coming through. 

This mighty stump was one of the bigger, more unwieldy pieces of trash that staff had to deal with strategically.

Photo by Christopher Kelley

A very special thanks goes out to Parks Department Director Nicki Dunn, to the Boulder County Sheriff’s Office, to all of Town staff—many of whom sacrificed a day off to assist—to those workers and volunteers from Boulder County, and to the Nederland residents who dedicated their time and energy to making the 2026 Town Clean-Up Day a success.