Douglas County slash-mulch site moves to Sedalia, expands wildfire prevention effort

Douglas County homeowners who relied on the old Castle Rock slash-mulch yard now need to head to Sedalia, where the county opened its 2026 seasonal site at 5675 Delva Way, next to Core Electric and Sedalia Landfill. The previous Castle Rock location is no longer in operation, making the move a practical change for residents clearing brush, tree limbs and green yard waste before fire season.

The new site opened Friday, April 3, and Saturday, April 4, with hours from 7 a.m. to 5 p.m. each day. After that opening weekend, the county returned the site to a Saturday-only schedule through Oct. 31, with regular hours typically running from 7 a.m. to 5 p.m. Douglas County says the drop-off is free and is intended for tree limbs, trees and other green yard debris that can add to wildfire danger when left around homes.

County officials have tied the service directly to wildfire preparedness, saying that removing tree limbs, shrubs and brush is an important way to reduce the spread of fire. The county also is urging residents to make evacuation plans and use Ready, Set, Go! guidance as they clean up yards around Douglas County communities including Sedalia, Castle Rock, Castle Pines and Lone Tree.

The scale of the program shows why the site matters. In 2025, residents converted 32,841 cubic yards of debris into mulch, a volume the county compared to about 10 Olympic-sized swimming pools. That amount underscores how much local participation feeds both yard cleanup and the county’s broader wildfire mitigation effort.

The Sedalia move also points to a larger shift in county public works planning. In 2023, the seasonal slash-mulch site operated at 1400 Caprice Drive in Castle Rock, while a year-round location for limited small loads operated at 7826 S. Colo. 67, about 2.5 miles north of Deckers. Now, county leaders are positioning the Sedalia site as the foundation for a larger waste-diversion hub.

A March 3 staff memo said a proposed Combined Waste Diversion and Biochar Facility would bring slash/mulch, green waste, leaf drop, household hazardous waste and electronic waste together with a new biochar operation at the Sedalia Public Works Operations site. The memo said public access would expand from seasonal one-day-a-week service to year-round, six-day-a-week hours. It also said e-waste drop-off would move from Commerce City to Douglas County and household hazardous waste would shift from curbside pickup to drop-off.

County staff said the current programs cost more than they bring in, with expenses exceeding revenues by $321,600 a year. The combined approach is projected to cover 100% of expenses and repay the capital investment in nine years, while requiring 10 new full-time employees and one transferred position. For residents, the question is no longer just where to drop off slash, but whether Sedalia becomes a true one-stop cleanup site for the county.