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2023 Events Calendar

April

Earth Day Shoreline Cleanup [Public]

We’ll be kicking off the 2023 creek season with a community Earth Day cleanup project focused on trash pickup along the shoreline. Check back in March for specifics on the where/when to meetup and help. In the meantime, we’ll be looking for sections along the creek and Creekwalk that could use some focused attention from a big crew. Contact us if you see a spot that needs help, and thank you to the City of Syracuse who has been helping us quash illegal dumping along our creek!

Spring Creek Scouting & Obstacle Cleanup [Creek Rats Core Team]

Stay tuned for the where/when. Weather allowing, we’re planning a late April scouting trip to look for obstructions and projects that need attention, and clear any obstacles we can in the moment.

May – June

Ollie’s Point Spring Maintenance/Gardening [Public]

Join us in late May/early June to rake, weed whack, trim, and otherwise do spring maintenance at our Ollie’s Point take out site. Event details will be announced later this spring.

June Fun Float [Public]

We’ll be hosting 2023’s first public fun float on the creek in June. Stay tuned for the when/where, and how creek conditions are looking. And if you miss the June float, we’ll be doing another public float in September. Hope to meet a lot of new boaters for a fun day exploring the city from this unique creek perspective!

August

Annual Summer Cleanup [Public]

2023 will be our 22nd annual summer cleanup in and along the creek. Join us and a team of ESF freshmen completing their Saturday of Service and see what this year’s most talked about creek finds will be!

When: Saturday, August 26th @ TBD
Where: TBD
Wear: Good, solid footwear that will stay secure on your feet while walking through the creek water and protect you from metal/glass on the creek bottom. Plus clothes that can get wet and muddy.

September

Fall Fun Float [Public]

One of our newer annual traditions, we’ll be inviting anyone with an interest in boating the creek to join us for our 6th annual fall “just for the fun of it” float. This paddle is ideal for people with low or no boating experience as the water is low and slow this time of year. Plus we’ve had a whole season to remove trees and trash obstacles! We hope to welcome many new faces to boating on the creek while we celebrate the end to our 2023 work season. Details will be shared in late-August, or contact us to join our mailing list.

Past Events and Projects

Our events typically repeat annually. If you see something that sounded fun and you missed it this year, mark your calendar to check back for next year’s date and time, or reach out to be added to our email loop.

2022 Past Events

Saturday, Oct 1st: Onondaga Creekwalk’s “The Mile Marketplace”

Join Syracuse Parks & Recreation for a family-friendly day to showcase and celebrate unique offerings thriving in the South Side Creekwalk community. There will be urban farm stands, local chefs, local artisans, local musicians, professionals, and environmental educators. Parks & Rec will also be sharing information about improvement projects underway.

Make sure to drop by the Creek Rats table to say “hi!”

Saturday, Sept 24th: Just for Fun Fall Float

Join us for this float trip down Onondaga Creek, just to have fun and enjoy fall in Syracuse as viewed from the water. This year’s float is scheduled for Sat, Sept 24th, 2PM. We’ll have rides arranged to get everyone back to the launch site after a cider and doughnut fall snack. This trip is perfect for people who are new to paddling as the water is slow and shallow this time of year (plus we’ve had a season of doing creek cleanups to remove obstacles!).

To help with planning, please send us a note if you’re interested in attending. Let us know if you’ll be needing a canoe or kayak, and also if you’d prefer we match you with an experienced paddler.

Saturday Aug 27th: Annual In-creek and Shoreline Cleanup

Come help us clean up Onondaga Creek! Our 21st annual in-creek/shoreline cleanup will take place Saturday, August 27th. Volunteers should arrive by 9:30 AM.

  • Where: Midland Avenue @ Creekwalk
  • When: Saturday Aug 27th, 2022 from 9:30 AM – 1:30 PM (ish)
  • Wear: Good, solid footwear that will stay secure on your feet while walking through the creek water and protect you from metal/glass on the creek bottom. Plus clothes that can get wet and muddy.

Given how low the creek water is right now, most volunteers will walk with us in the creek to collect an assortment of bikes, shopping carts, and other surprises and load them into canoes. A dumpster will be on-site to unload the canoes.

Plan to have fun and get muddy! Light snacks will be provided. Consider a towel and dry socks/shoes for when the work is done, and reach out if you have any questions.

Saturday, July 30th: Merry Ferry & Scouting Paddle

Join us for a Merry Ferry to paddle the creek, cut back some overgrowth, and do a scouting in preparation for our major August cleanup.

Sunday, Jun 12th: Ollie’s Point Revegetation Project Spring Maintenance Day

Work to stabilize the shoreline and control invasive Japanese Knotweed at Ollie’s Point in Franklin Square has been underway since 2019. Join us for our annual spring workday. Tasks include pruning willows, pulling out knotweed, weed whacking, raking, and some willow planting to replace what didn’t survive the winter.

Saturday, April 23rd: Earth Day Cleanup

Join Iroquois Trout Unlimited, Living Waters Church, and Creek Rats as we celebrate Earth Day by cleaning up the creek shoreline in the Hovey/Huron Street area!

Learn more about this yearly cleanup event or more information on enjoying the creek