Bull Mountain's Fall Leaves Have Two Free Places to Go, and Both Collect Food at the Gate

The first Saturday of November gives Bull Mountain two free places to drop off leaves. Tigard staff will be at the end of SW 92nd Avenue, just past Durham Road near Tigard High School, from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. They'll take leaves loose or bagged, and they suggest bringing two non-perishable food items. That same morning, Clean Water Services crews will be at two sites in Beaverton from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. They take donations for local food banks too.

The two programs are run by different agencies and keep different hours. They also have different bag rules and send the leaves to different places. Either way, your raked leaves can bring food in with them. Tigard's donations go to a pantry on SW Grant Avenue that serves close to 1,000 families and moved to a six-day schedule this summer.

The Saturdays, Side by Side

Clean Water Services opened its season on October 24 and October 31. Here's what's left of both calendars from November 7 on:

On three Saturdays you can pick either program. The table also shows two gaps. Neither program runs on November 14 or on November 28, the Saturday after Thanksgiving. That makes November 21 the last drop-off before a two-week break. If your trees drop late, December 12 is the one extra date, and only Tigard has it.

The hours differ too. Clean Water Services opens an hour earlier and closes an hour later. Tigard's six-hour window at Cook Family Park is shorter, but the drive is down the hill rather than across to Beaverton.

Two Sets of Rules at the Gate

How you bag the leaves at home decides which drop-off will take them.

Tigard at Cook Family Park, 17005 SW 92nd Ave.

• Takes leaves, small yard debris and clippings, loose or bagged.
• Paper bags from local hardware stores are preferred.
• Plastic bags are fine for hauling, but you have to empty them before city staff will accept the leaves.
• Free, with a suggested donation of two non-perishable food items.

Clean Water Services at 2025 SW Merlo Court and 15195 NW Greenbrier Parkway, Beaverton

• Takes leaves, pine needles and grass clippings.
• Loose or in paper bags. No plastic.
• 50 pounds per bag, at most.
• For residents, not commercial operations.
• Collects money and food donations for local food banks.

Two of these differences matter most. If you raked into plastic bags, plan on dumping them out at Cook Family Park, because Clean Water Services won't take plastic at all. If your load includes small branches or other yard debris along with the leaves, Tigard's list covers it. Clean Water Services lists only leaves, pine needles and grass clippings.

For a Saturday morning run, the simplest loading plan looks like this:

1. Bag in paper, or keep the leaves loose in a truck bed or on a tarp. Both sites accept that.
2. Keep each paper bag under 50 pounds. That's required at the Clean Water Services sites, and it makes unloading easier anywhere.
3. Pack the two food items before the leaves, so they don't end up buried under the bags.
4. Go before the closing time. Tigard staff stop accepting at 3 p.m.

Who Cook Family Park Is For

The city's event page invites "area residents." Tigard Today's October 23 story describes it as a free drop-off for Tigard residents. The hill is split between the city of Tigard and unincorporated Washington County. If your address is on the county side, call before loading the car. The city's event listing names Rob Block, Wastewater Operations Supervisor, as the contact at 503-718-2607.

The Clean Water Services leaf page describes its program as a Washington County event for residents.

What Two Food Items Do at 12630 SW Grant Avenue

Tigard sends its food donations to St. Anthony's Food Pantry, which runs out of St. Anthony Catholic Church at 12630 SW Grant Ave. The pantry started under the Tigard Conference of the Society of St. Vincent de Paul. In August, Tigard Life reported that administrative and financial oversight moved to St. Anthony Catholic Church on July 1. The same story said the longtime volunteers stayed on and Jackson Fischer was hired in July as Pantry Director.

Fischer described the pantry's reach to Tigard Life:

"We serve, on average, close to 1,000 families and then a few thousand individuals if you count the family members."

According to the same report, the pantry added Tuesdays this summer, so it's now open six days a week. Hours are noon to 2:30 p.m. on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays, 4:30 to 6 p.m. on Tuesdays and Thursdays, and 10 a.m. to noon on Saturdays. Parish leaders told Tigard Life they hope to add outreach like rent and utility assistance at the Grant Avenue site over time.

Four Saturdays at Cook Family Park means four chances to add to those shelves. On a typical rake-up day, the two suggested food items are the only cost of getting rid of the pile.

Where the Leaves End Up

Clean Water Services says it collects about 3,000 cubic yards of leaves a year, which it puts at roughly 300 dump truck loads. Those leaves go to West Union Gardens, where they're made into mulch. West Union Gardens is a family farm at 7775 NW Cornelius Pass Road in Hillsboro. It grows berries, vegetables and flowers. A 2019 Clean Water Services advisory report dates the regional leaf program to 1994. It says the leaves were spread over farmland the following spring. So a bag of Bull Mountain maple leaves dropped in Beaverton this month can end up on a Hillsboro farm field by spring.

Clean Water Services gives three reasons for running the program. Leaf drop-off reduces local flooding from clogged storm drains. It keeps nutrients from rotting yard debris out of creeks, wetlands and the Tualatin River. And it keeps streets clear for people on bikes and on foot. For scale, Tigard's city-maintained storm system includes 4,801 catch basins, and the city sweeps its street lane miles monthly. On a street lined with tall trees, a few wet weekends can cover the grate at the end of the driveway.

Between the Saturdays

Two Saturdays in November leave plenty of days for leaves to pile up. Clean Water Services suggests a few options in between:

• Leave the leaves. Let leaves stay where they land in garden beds, or run the mower over them and use the shredded leaves as mulch in planting beds.
• Share a service. Neighbors can split the cost of one service that collects and disposes of everyone's leaves together.
• Find help with yardwork. Neighbors who need help can use the 211 Community Resource Directory: call 211 or 503-222-5555, or text a zip code to 898211 during office hours.

On the county side of the hill, the curbside cart also works. Washington County's urban unincorporated service package includes a 60-gallon cart for yard debris and food scraps, picked up every other week, under rates that took effect August 1, 2026. According to the county, you can set out extra yard debris for a fee or order a second cart, and your collection company has the details. Haulers vary by street, so the county's address lookup is the quickest way to find out who serves your home.

The cart fills fast in November. When it does, the next free drop-off is Saturday, November 7, at Cook Family Park or at either Beaverton site, and the next one after that is November 21.

When I prepare a home for listing photos, a clear yard and clean gutters show up in every exterior shot. On Bull Mountain, that's most of what fall prep comes down to. If you're thinking about listing this winter or early spring and want a walkthrough of what to do now and what can wait, Julie Williams is glad to help. Schedule a consultation.