Gambler 500 pulls 225,000 pounds of garbage from Grassland

Published 12:54 pm Thursday, July 3, 2025

The results of the June 27-29 Gambler 500 are in — and they’re impressive.

Tate Morgan, the founder of the Gambler 500, noted that estimates are that nearly 100,000 acres were covered and about 225,000 pounds of trash was collected and brought out of the Crooked River National Grassland. The project focused on land north and east of Gray Butte.

The garbage included:
 Two full containers of tires.
 15 automobiles
 12 RVs
 One boat
Several containers were filled with metal, which can and will be recycled, said Morgan. The Young Men Service League helped sort the trash to enable recycling whenever possible.
The staging area included 11 container/dumpsters, of which several were swapped out during the weekend. A total of 30 containers removed.
The majority of the costs of removing the trash this year will be covered by the Bronco Wild Fund, which supports the Sons of Smokey non-profit. Morgan emphasized that neither the Gambler 500 nor Sons of Smokey have paid positions. They are volunteer based organizations for the purpose of trail cleanup so people can better enjoy our outdoors.

The event drew more than a 1,000 volunteers and many wild vehicles (a signature of the Gambler event) to the basecamp off Grizzly Road on the property of the Norton Cattle Co.