Adopt a Highway: Kick off 2025 with southern Arizona hospitality

We’ve got your New Year’s resolution in the bag!

Longtime volunteer group leader Melissa Owen welcomes you to join the Jan. 25 “All the Way to the Border” cleanup held along 45-miles of State Route 286 between Three Points Junction and Sasabe at the Arizona/Mexico border. 

If you’d like to participate in this annual event, complete your Adopt a Highway Volunteer Permit Application by Jan. 10, 2024, and send it to [email protected] along with your request for a one-day permit and an adoptable mile for “All the Way to the Border.”

ADOT will assign an available mile along the route to interested participants. Volunteers gather for a safety briefing near Three Points on Saturday, Jan. 25, before heading to their adopted miles.

Owen and 120 of her closest friends and neighbors bagged 2 tons of trash last January, including aluminum cans, cigarette butts and building materials. This coming January marks 10 years of coordinated efforts with ADOT, neighbors and local organizations to help reduce litter along SR 286. 

Arizona has hundreds of miles available for adoption statewide. If you’d like to gather a few times a year to bag trash with your own team, please visit our Getting Started page for step-by-step instructions.

If you're looking for a way to make positive change in the new year, plenty of inspiration is waiting for you in the Adopt a Highway News. Sometimes the simple act of bagging trash – as in Melissa Owen’s case, causes miles of good deeds and a decade of growing friendships.