RRC hosts a Rainbow River Clean Up Day every year, welcoming local organizations and volunteers to join our effort to pull as much trash from the river as possible. RRC provides lunch for the volunteers, and awards prizes for categories such as "Most Unusual" and "Most Dangerous" items found. It’s a fun, educational event, and always very productive.
The Rainbow River community-wide Cleanup for 2026 will be Saturday, May 16th starting at 9:00am at the Rio Vista Beach Park, north of Dunnellon. Directional signs will be posted beginning at the Winn Dixie corner on 99th Place and US 41. Volunteers are needed to help with this cleanup and will work different sections of the river in boats, kayaks, and canoes. All the debris collected will be brought back to the Rio Vista Park by 11:30am for record keeping and disposal. All participants are invited to stay and enjoy a free gourmet lunch of hot dogs, potato salad and baked beans.
Prizes will be awarded for unusual items found in the River. In 2025 more than 125 people participated in our Spring cleanup, including the Marion County Sheriff's Underwater Recovery Team.
Persons interested in joining in the cleanup are asked to contact Jerry Rogers at 352-229-1432 for coordination and planning purposes. It is important that we know how many people will participate in order to provide sufficient food and beverage for all. Rainbow River Conservation Inc. has sponsored River cleanups since 1980.
Please join us if you want to help keep the Rainbow River as an extraordinarily beautiful piece of Florida.
Directions to the Rio Vista Park can be found below.
NOTE: If you plan to launch at either Blue Run Park or KP Hole, you will want to begin your clean-up from there and work your way toward Rio Vista Park (about 1.6 mi from either end)
Directions to Rio Vista Park:
From Ocala:
- Take Hwy 40 west about 20 miles to US 41.
- Take a left (south) on US 41 and go about 2.3 mi to traffic light at Winn Dixie shopping center on left.
- Turn left (east) onto 99th Place and travel for l.1 miles until you reach the railroad trax.
- KEEP GOING STRAIGHT (turning left takes you to the KP Hole)
- Road bends to the right and becomes SW 186th Ave. Continue straight into the community of Rio Vista. Turn onto SW 110th Place less than a mile down the road.
- There is a small round-a-bout just before entrance gate
Interstate from the south:
- Take 484 Exit (Dunnellon) where you will dead end onto US41. Turn right (north) and travel through town for about a mile when you will see a Winn Dixie on the right. Turn right at the Winn Dixie light (99th)
- Travel for l.1 miles until you reach the RR trax.
- KEEP GOING STRAIGHT (turning left takes you to the KP Hole)
- Road bends to the right and becomes SW 186th Continue straight into the community of Rio Vista.
- Turn onto SW 110th Place less than a mile down the road.
On 5/17/25, our incredible community once again came together for the annual Rainbow River Cleanup, and the results were both inspiring and encouraging. Volunteers of all ages gathered to preserve the natural beauty of our beloved river.
What made this year’s cleanup especially rewarding was a powerful observation: there’s less trash in the river than in previous years!
Each year, we see people show up and we have less garbage to collect. It’s a sign that our collective efforts, such as education, and reducing single-use plastics, are truly making a difference.
From families and kayak groups to divers retrieving hidden debris, everyone played a part. Together, we not only cleaned the river, but also celebrated our progress. This is what community looks like: showing up, protecting what we love, and leaving a place better than we found it.
Thank you to every volunteer, and supporter. Let’s keep this momentum going and continue to be stewards of the Rainbow River for generations to come!
Our 2024 Clean Up event was held in May, with a great turnout, and a trailer full of trash removed from the river. THANK YOU to all who participated!
