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| Open for 5 years, Cheyenne Mountain State Park work in progress | |||
| Wednesday, November 30, 2011 10:07 |
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BY R. SCOTT RAPPOLD CHEYENNE MOUNTAIN STATE PARK • It’s only 15 minutes from home, depending on the red lights, but up here in her camper, Kandy Rouse-Lee feels far from Colorado Springs, the nation’s 41st most-populous city. “You don’t hear anything. I leave the blinds open at night so I can see the city lights, a little bit of sparkling,” she said. This former ranch opened to the public five years ago as Cheyenne Mountain State Park, created using a mix of grants, state money and local trails and open space tax revenue. Hikers, campers and mountain bikers are beginning to embrace the 1,680-acre park for the same reasons as Rouse-Lee: outdoor recreation close to home, worth the $7 entrance fee (or possibly less, with purchase of an annual pass). It’s been a long time coming. The land was bought in 2000 and officials missed the planned 2003 opening by three years. After it opened for hiking in 2006, it was two more years before campsites were ready, and there remains one glaring omission: a trail to the top of the 9,565-foot namesake mountain. It’s the No. 1 thing the park manager hears when he is around town in uniform. “People just want access to the top of the mountain,” said park manager Mitch Martin. Officials are drafting a management plan for the park and are accepting public comments. They will release a proposed plan in spring. Just don’t expect to be able to climb a marked trail from the visitor center to the summit of Cheyenne Mountain any time soon. Budget cuts mean Colorado Parks and Wildlife is dependent on volunteers to build the trail, and that could take years. Just getting to the trailhead left this visitor drenched in sweat on a late November afternoon. Starting at the day-use trailhead just past the fee station, I strolled on the Talon Trail. Prairie dog turf gave way to head-high scrub oaks, which gave way to ponderosa pines. I made such rapid progress through the wonderfully rolling terrain I questioned the mileage in the park’s trail map. A large buck mule deer with three females in tow munched on foliage.
Cheyenne Mountain’s steep, craggy face — not part of the park, but the property of the Air Force station once home to NORAD — loomed ever larger. The trails are wide and well-designed; there’s plenty of space for a hiker and mountain biker to pass each other. Turning onto the North Talon Trail, after four miles I reached a nondescript side trail with sticks laid across it. This is the historic trail once used by homesteaders to reach the top of Cheyenne Mountain. While still evident in places, it is steep, tough to follow and officially closed to the public. A group from Volunteers for Outdoor Colorado worked on the trail for three days in early October. But a storm tortured the workers with snow, rain, frigid temperatures and brutal winds, and they managed to build only 1,500 feet of 4,400 feet of trail scheduled for completion during those workdays. When the trail is completed, by 2016 at the earliest, it will run 3 miles — with about 3,000 feet of elevation gain — up the south side of the mountain. Officials are negotiating an easement or purchase of a sliver of land that could allow a more gradual trail that could be open to bikes. Otherwise it will be too steep, Martin said. Park officials are also leaning toward having no facilities or camping at the top of the mountain, just a loop trail through three alpine meadows and to various overlooks. The summit is in Pike National Forest, and a trail to that spot has not been decided upon. There is another trail that ascends Cheyenne Mountain from the northwest, off Old Stage Road, but it does not reach the park. Parks planning director Scott Babcock acknowledged hikers’ impatience for a trail up the mountain. “We understand the public would like to get access as soon as possible. We have been unfortunate in many ways, in that we’ve had staffing changes over at the park. We’ve had staffing changes at the (regional office) and we’ve had budget cuts and of course the merger with the (Colorado) Division of Wildlife,” he said. These changes brought a 2008 master-planning process for the top of the mountain to a halt. Earlier comments received on that plan will be factored into the draft to be released in spring.
“We think we’ll come out with a much stronger plan that, by and large, most people will be happy with,” he said. Proposals for the park include additional campsites, overnight cabins or yurts and an archery range. Officials don’t plan to revive an earlier proposal for a lavish event center at the park. The first full year the park was open saw 52,000 visitors. There were 150,000 last year. The goal is 300,000 visitors a year. Said Martin, “I feel like the park is growing. I think it is in its toddler stage. People are still finding out about it.” Back at the campground, Rouse-Lee is one of two campers here, despite the mildness of the November weather. In summer, the campground has been fully booked on weekends and 90 percent full on weekdays, good indications people are looking for close-to-home camping in the Pikes Peak region. But in autumn, she has more bears, mountain lions and bobcats for neighbors than people.
“I love it this time of year. Talk about mega-quiet.” Miles of trail: 20, open to hiking and mountain biking. Horses and pets are not allowed. Entrance fee: $7 per vehicle; annual state parks pass $70 ($60 ages 64 and older) Amenities: 61 campsites, some open all year, a visitor center, picnic facilities and amphitheater.
To get there: Take Nevada Avenue (Colorado Highway 115) south and turn right at the park entrance, across from Fort Carson. Colorado Parks and Wildlife officials are taking comments on a master plan for the park, which will be unveiled this spring. Send comments and suggestions to This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it or contact the park’s manager at (719) 576-2381. Info: parks.state.co.us/parks/cheyennemountain/managementplan |
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