The city of Colorado Springs and El Paso County parks departments have collaborated on a project aimed at improving trail accessibility and connectivity at a beloved recreation hub.

Set to start this spring, trail construction and realignment will be focused in an area where the county’s Bear Creek Regional Park blends with the city’s Bear Creek Canyon Park. The job will entail about 4,500 feet of new trail — close to a mile — said the project manager with city parks, Dan Allen.

“The big focus,” he said, will be a rerouted stretch connecting up to Gold Camp Road, which runs on to North Cheyenne Cañon Park. It’s among trail reroutes said to address steep, eroding segments harmful to the environment. 

Map depicting trail project envisioned around Bear Creek Regional Park and Bear Creek Canyon Park. Photo courtesy city of Colorado Springs

The Gold Camp Road connector trail is depicted in pink on a conceptual map. On one end of it is another trail connecting to Bear Creek Road and Red Rock Canyon Open Space’s Section 16 trailhead — a stretch that will also see reroutes — and on the other end a connection with Stephanie’s Trail, the popular mountain bike trail that will be untouched by the project.

Allen said the “impetus” of the project came from El Paso County parks’ Theresa Odello, who oversees Terrain Hoppers based at Bear Creek Nature Center. As part of the county’s Trailability Program, people with disabilities have rented those one-seat, all-terrain vehicles for tours around Bear Creek Regional Park alongside knowledgeable staff and volunteers.

In a city parks board presentation showing the Gold Camp Road connector trail, Odello called it a “huge connection” for “people coming down from North Cheyenne Cañon to Bear Creek.” A new, wide alignment would allow Terrain Hoppers “all the way to the top of Gold Camp Road and (allow) us to talk about Gold Camp Road and the history there,” Odello said.

Allen said the opportunity could be shared with the city’s still-developing Trackchair program. The city acquired two Trackchairs last year to run a program similar to El Paso County’s, with the same type of vehicles that for years have roamed Staunton State Park.

A previously closed parking lot in the vicinity could serve as a launch point to the new trail, Allen said. (The city has also eyed Red Rock Canyon Open Space for the Trackchairs.)

Allen called the project “an exciting opportunity for us to increase accessibility in our parks.” He added: “But really, the benefits are improving connectivity and really putting a great trail product and experience on the ground.”

The project area is around “a maze of rogue trails,” Allen said. While new trail is built, Allen said crews would close and revegetate several of those unsanctioned, user-made portions.

The city has said “minimal” trail closures are expected during the project, with a goal to finish by the end of the year.

The city of Colorado Springs and El Paso County parks department have identified new trail opportunities around Bear Creek Regional Park and Bear Creek Canon Park.

courtesy city of Colorado Springs