The 22nd Annual Blackfoot River Cleanup invites all families and fishing and boating enthusiasts of Northwest Montana to Johnsrud Park to float, wade, fish, and feast—while helping to purge our regional treasure of trash—on July 26, 2025.

As one of Montana’s most storied blue- ribbon streams, the Blackfoot is beautiful and wild, yet easily accessible for recreational use. To maintain the Blackfoot’s pristine condition, our community relies on an annual grassroots cleanup effort. Started in 2004 by the Pfister family of Potomac, Montana, the annual Blackfoot River Cleanup—held every year thereafter, on the last Saturday of July—brings local families, fishing and boating enthusiasts, divers, and conservationists together to walk/wade/float one of the Blackfoot’s most stunning corridors, combing its banks for litter, while divers scour the river bottom for trash. The endeavor continues today thanks to Potomac’s Blackfoot Home and Community Club (BHCC), whose members, as tradition holds, will provide river cleanup volunteers with a community lunch at Johnsrud Park, available from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m.

Interested participants can pick up a mesh trash cleanup bag from one of our trusted Missoula merchant partners (including Yoke’s Fresh Market, the Missoulian Angler, the Blackfoot Outfitter, and many more) or simply grab one at the event! The Cleanup kicks off at 8 a.m. on Saturday, July 26, at Johnsrud Park, located just off of Highway 200, about 15 miles east of Missoula. Come for community camaraderie as we work together to savor one of Montana's premier trout streams while safeguarding its health and beauty—and stay for the free, festive, and family-friendly feast!

The Blackfoot Cleanup tradition has persevered, year after year, thanks to the thousands of dedicated community members who have cumulatively purged more than 20,000 aluminum cans, and thousands more bottles, shoes, and other detritus—countless blight that would still present in the river and on its banks if not for the BHCC, our dedicated volunteers, and the many local businesses we rely on to aid in our distribution of mesh trash collection bags, which we encourage individuals to tote when floating, fishing, or swimming the river. For more information, please contact BHCC PR officer Katie O’Reilly, at katie.t.oreilly@gmail.com.