Improved trails, parks and other projects all along Fountain Creek are planned as part of a $2.5 million Great Outdoors Colorado grant announced Tuesday.

Plans include a natural playground at America the Beautiful Park, improvements to the Front Range trail and an expansion at the Fountain Creek Nature Center.

Great Outdoors Colorado awarded the grant to the Fountain Creek Watershed Trails and Recreation Project, one of eight Colorado projects that will receive a total of $30 million in state lottery grants. Five are in Front Range urban areas, three in mountain areas. All focus on the lure of water.

“It’s a good grant,” said Larry Small, executive director of the Fountain Creek Watershed Flood Control and Greenway District, formed in 2009.

The district sponsored the grant application with the cities of Pueblo, Fountain and Colorado Springs and El Paso and Pueblo counties. The initial proposal asked for $5 million.

Projects include:

• El Centro del Quinto Sol Recreation Center in Pueblo will build a skate park adjacent to Fountain Creek with access to trails.

• A berm adjacent to Fountain Creek at America the Beautiful Park will be removed, and a natural playground, with a tree swing and boardwalks, will be built.

• The Front Range trail through Colorado Springs will be improved to include a concrete 12-foot wide trail to run from Woodmen Road to Leon Young Sports Complex.

• Clear Springs Ranch, also known as Hanna Ranch, will build a 4-and-a-half mile trail, now in the design process. The area is located near the Ray D. Nixon Power Plant on the east side of I-25, south of Colorado Springs.

• The El Paso County Nature center in Fountain will be expanded, plus the continuation of the Front Range trail in Fountain.

The GOCO board members will attend the Fountain Creek Watershed board meeting Friday to officially notify them of the grant. It will be at 1 p.m. at the Fountain city hall.After that, Small said, the projects can start immediately. “It’s going to be exciting to get started.”

The Denver Post contributed to this story.

Other great outdoors colorado grants• Poudre River Trail Corridor Improvement Project — $5 million.

• Denver South Platte River Vision Implementation Project — $4.6 million.

• Plains to Peaks Trail in Clear Creek Canyon — $4.6 million

• Triple Creek Greenway Corridor Project in Aurora — $3.4 million

• Colorado River Conservation and Recreation Project in Eagle County — $3.9 million

• Colorado Riverfront Trail Project in Fruita — $2.9 million

• Yampa River Legacy Project in Steamboat Springs — $2.4 million