Saturday, Sept. 12, is the last day to drop off slash at the Black Forest Slash-Mulch site on Herring Road. Mulch pickup runs a week longer, through Saturday, Sept. 19, and the volunteer committee that runs the site says a loader will be on hand for four of the season’s last days and that its services are free through the end of the season.
BLACK FOREST — The Black Forest Slash-Mulch Program takes its last loads of slash for 2026 on Saturday, Sept. 12, from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. The site stays open for mulch through Saturday, Sept. 19, on its regular schedule: Tuesday and Thursday evenings from 5 to 7:30 p.m. and Saturdays from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. The county’s 2026 schedule says mulch is available while supplies last, and on Thursday the program’s website said there is a large pile of it.
A flyer from the Black Forest Slash-Mulch Committee, known as SAMCOM, says a loader will fill vehicles with mulch on Saturday, Sept. 12, and Saturday, Sept. 19, from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m., and on Tuesday, Sept. 15, and Thursday, Sept. 17, from 5 to 7:30 p.m. The county’s season schedule lists the loader on Saturdays only. The flyer also says all of these services are free of charge through the end of the season on Sept. 19.
The program’s other published materials still show the regular fees. Its website, El Paso County’s page for the site and the county’s 2026 schedule all list $10 for each load of slash and $5 for each loader bucket of mulch, which the county puts at about 2 cubic yards; mulch that visitors load themselves is free. Anyone who wants to confirm before hauling a load can call Carolyn Brown of SAMCOM at (719) 495-3127 or the county’s Environmental Division at (719) 520-7878.
The site takes tree and bush debris only, in pieces no longer than 6 feet and no more than 8 inches in diameter, and the county’s schedule notes that local ordinance requires loads to be tied down in transit. It does not accept bulk loads of pine needles, stumps, roots, weeds, grass, lumber or trash. The program is for household use, not businesses. Visitors are asked to fill out a participant information form on their first trip of the year, and to keep children and pets in their vehicles while heavy equipment is working.
Pine needles have a separate outlet the same morning. Black Forest Fire Rescue is holding its second community pine needle disposal event on Saturday, Sept. 12, from 8 a.m. to 1 p.m. at its Station 1 training grounds, south of the station at 11445 Teachout Road. Needles and pinecones must be bagged; branches, trash and construction debris are not accepted, and the event is for residential use only. The department says dumpsters are first come, first served, that the event may end early if they fill, and that its first event collected 1,250 bags.
The program describes itself as a wildfire mitigation and recycling program. Residents bring in limbs, trimmings and dead wood cleared from their land, and the material is ground into mulch that other residents take home. Volunteers staff the site, which the program says sits on state school trust land in the Black Forest’s Section 16. The county’s 2026 flyer lists the El Paso County Environmental Division, the Colorado State Forest Service and the Black Forest Fire Department as co-sponsors. The program’s frequently asked questions advise against burning slash at home, and when El Paso County eased to Stage I fire restrictions on Aug. 21, open burning stayed prohibited.
If you go
Slash: Saturday, Sept. 12, 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. — the last day
Mulch: Saturday, Sept. 12, 8 a.m. to 4 p.m.; Tuesday, Sept. 15, and Thursday, Sept. 17, 5 to 7:30 p.m.; Saturday, Sept. 19, 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. — the last day
Loader: All four of those days, according to the SAMCOM flyer
Cost: Free through Sept. 19, according to the SAMCOM flyer. The program’s website and the county still list $10 a slash load and $5 a loader bucket
Where: Herring Road, south of Shoup Road, Black Forest. The site has no street address
Takes: Tree and bush debris up to 6 feet long and 8 inches in diameter, tied down. No bulk pine needles, stumps, roots, weeds, grass, lumber or trash. Household use only
Bagged pine needles: Saturday, Sept. 12, 8 a.m. to 1 p.m., Black Forest Fire Rescue Station 1 training grounds, 11445 Teachout Road
Questions: Carolyn Brown, SAMCOM, (719) 495-3127 · El Paso County Environmental Division, (719) 520-7878
More events: The Independent’s community calendar
Getting there
The program and the county publish the same directions: from Highway 83, take Shoup Road east to Herring Road and turn right, heading south; from Woodmen Road and Black Forest Road, go north on Black Forest Road to Shoup Road, then 1 mile east to Herring Road and turn south. The pin on the map below is the location the program links from its website.
Sources & further reading
The Independent’s own coverage: El Paso County Eases to Stage I Fire Restrictions, Aug. 22 — open burning stayed banned when the county stepped down to Stage I · the community calendar, which carries the site’s last slash and mulch days
Program record: Black Forest Slash-Mulch Program home page, carrying the season’s end dates, hours, fees and the added loader days · 2026 schedule · what the site accepts · location and directions · frequently asked questions, on the site’s land and on burning slash
County record: El Paso County Community Resources, Black Forest Slash & Mulch · 2026 Black Forest Slash Flyer and Schedule (PDF) · participant information form
Pine needles: Black Forest Fire Rescue, notice of the Second Community Pine Needle Disposal Event
Entities: Colorado State Forest Service