Today, Thursday, November 12, College Hill's first leaf pickup of the season is on the city schedule. If your curbside pile has been waiting since yesterday, that's because Wednesday, November 11, was Rake A Difference Day. Students and neighbors were scheduled to meet at Ruby Street Park at noon, check out rakes and gloves, and work their way through College Hill yards. The City of Pullman scheduled today's pickup to collect what they raked.
That pickup is only the first of two. College Hill is the only part of Pullman whose leaf season is split by more than a weekend this year, and both of its windows line up with the WSU calendar.
Every other hill gets one three-day stretch
The City of Pullman's 2026 leaf collection schedule runs from Friday, November 6, through Tuesday, November 24. It splits the city into quadrants named after its hills:
- Military Hill, NW Quadrant: November 6, 9 and 10
- College Hill, NE Quadrant: November 12, then November 23–24
- Sunnyside Hill, SW Quadrant: November 13, 16 and 17, including Nicole Court, Sunrise Drive, Cory Lane, Golden Hills Drive and the Evergreen Community
- Pioneer Hill, SE Quadrant: November 18, 19 and 20
The other three hills each get three collection days in one stretch, with at most a weekend in the middle. College Hill gets one day this week, then a gap of more than a week while Sunnyside Hill and Pioneer Hill take their turns, then two days at the very end of the program. The city also posts a GIS leaf collection zone map if you live near a quadrant line and aren't sure which schedule applies to your street.
The city doesn't publish a street-by-street order within those dates. Its FAQ says the schedule names days for each quadrant and nothing more specific. If crews haven't reached your block by this afternoon, that's how the program works, and you haven't missed anything.
Wednesday's raking day is why today's pickup exists
Rake A Difference Day is new. The Daily Evergreen reported in November 2025 that WSU's Center for Civic Engagement was hosting its first one that month. Partners were the College Hill Association, ASWSU and the College Hill Matters committee, and longtime residents, students and Greek row neighbors were all invited.
According to the Evergreen, organizers planned to borrow 75 rakes from the Pullman School District, Pullman Parks & Recreation, WSU Facilities, Domas Landscaping and Leland Lawn. The Panhellenic Council offered a pizza party to the chapter with the most participants.
Event coordinator Jessica Perone told the Evergreen what the event was meant to solve. "While it is typically the renter's responsibility to maintain the property and adjacent sidewalks, many renters and students living in Greek houses may not have access to the necessary tools," she said. She also said the goal was for the day to become an annual tradition that teaches the community about Pullman city codes and builds connections between neighbors.
The 2026 edition is that second year. This time the City of Pullman listed it on GivePulse, and the listing says outright that the city "will do a special leaf pickup day on November 12th to collect the leaves from this event."
What moved between the first year and the second
In 2025 the raking day and the city's trucks ran on separate schedules. In 2026 the city scheduled its pickup around the raking day.
| 2025 | 2026 | |
|---|---|---|
| Raking day | Sunday, Nov. 16, 1–3 p.m. | Wednesday, Nov. 11, from noon |
| Meeting point | Ruby Street Park | Ruby Street Park, 605 NE Colorado St. |
| Citywide program | Nov. 10–26 | Nov. 6–24 |
| College Hill's place in the order | Last quadrant | Special pickup Nov. 12, then last again Nov. 23–24 |
| Pickup tied to the raking day | Not part of the schedule | Yes, the day after |
In 2025 the Evergreen described the program starting on the other hills and ending on College Hill, more than a week after the volunteers had raked. In 2026 the volunteers' piles get picked up the next morning. Volunteers still bring a Cougar Card to check out a rake and gloves, and the listing promised hot cocoa on a first-come, first-served basis.
The second window falls during Thanksgiving break
College Hill's second pickup, Monday and Tuesday, November 23–24, closes out the citywide program. Those two days also fall inside WSU's Thanksgiving vacation, which the WSU Registrar's academic calendar lists as November 23 through 27, 2026.
So College Hill gets one pickup the day after the student-powered raking day and another during the campus holiday week. Leaves that fall after this week, and yards the volunteers didn't reach, have a second chance before the program ends.
Two parts of the city's rules matter more for this second window.
Timing your pile. The city asks residents to rake leaves into the street "no more than two days before" their scheduled collection. For a Monday, November 23 pickup, that means Saturday, November 21 at the earliest.
Weather. If ice or snow builds up between the listed dates, the city may suspend leaf collection and put its crews on snow and ice control. In that case, removing leaves already raked into the street may become the property owner's responsibility. A late-November window is the one most exposed to that.
On parking, the city asks residents to use legal off-street parking on collection days so its trucks can reach the curb. Its FAQ also says it's a request with "no legal repercussion" if a car stays on the street. The suggested fix is a friendly conversation with the neighbor.
Making sure your pile actually gets picked up
The city's leaf crews use heavy equipment and large trucks, and the leaves go straight from the street to the city's mulch pile. These five rules apply to both rounds:
- Rake into the street, next to the curb. Leaves still in the yard won't be collected, including leaves that blew back after you raked.
- Skip the bags. Bagged leaves are left behind because the program turns loose leaves into mulch.
- Leaves only. Piles mixed with grass clippings, branches, rose bush trimmings or piles of pine needles won't be collected. A few stray needles may be unavoidable, but fine material the trucks can't lift becomes the owner's to clear.
- Keep the grates open. Don't rake leaves over or into storm drains, since that causes drainage trouble when it rains or snow melts. Clearing drains was one of the main goals of the volunteer day. Organizers said clogged drains lead to "street flooding and water drainage issues that affect the entire neighborhood."
- Watch for the sweepers. After the leaves are gone, the city sends street sweepers through for a more thorough cleaning as time allows.
The days between the two pickups
The gap between College Hill's two windows overlaps with the busiest stretch of the fall calendar on campus.
Friday, November 13. The CUB Winter Lights Fest starts at 4 p.m. on Terrell Mall, with student and Cougar Marching Band performances, cocoa and cider, fire pits, s'mores, cookie decorating and churros, according to the WSU events calendar.
Saturday, November 14. WSU football hosts Colorado State at 7:30 p.m. Pacific, according to the Cougars' schedule.
Saturday, November 21. This is the earliest day, under the city's two-day rule, to rake leaves to the curb for the November 23 pickup.
Monday and Tuesday, November 23–24. College Hill's final leaf collection, during WSU's Thanksgiving vacation.
After that, Pullman's Holiday Fest is Saturday, December 5, from 4 to 8 p.m. It's free and includes a community tree lighting, an artisan marketplace, a visit from Santa, storytime and cultural performances.
If late-fall yard work has you thinking about what your College Hill home is worth heading into spring, Krista Gross can walk you through it, block by block, whenever you're ready. Request a personalized home valuation, and keep your leaf pile out of the storm drain until November 24.
