“Pretty unique” might be an understatement in describing one of the first design elements proposed for a nature center to be built in Black Forest.

That’s how Todd Marts, El Paso County’s parks director, described the dramatic feature envisioned for the long-sought Fox Run Nature Center.

Renderings show walking paths wrapping around a tower, perched high above the ponderosa pines of Fox Run Regional Park and the surrounding Black Forest. Marts calls it a “canopy walk.” It’s designed to provide a short tour around the treetops, where guests look to sweeping views of Pikes Peak and the Palmer Divide.

“It’s designed so the slope is gradual, it’s ADA accessible and it’ll end into the hillside,” Marts said. “So you’ll go down and see different levels of the forest as you go.”

He called it a “pretty unique” experience to discover the ecosystem he considered “very unique.”

The canopy walk was one concept displayed March 14 at Pikes Peak Brewing Co., which was one in a series of gatherings the hosted by the county regarding ideas for Fox Run Nature Center.

Land managers and contracted specialists reported 20 meets and greets with interested people at open houses and events last year. The year was spent contemplating a design for the nature center, which has been in the works since 2019.

It was first conceived in the county parks department’s system master plan from 2013 — a northern nature center to match the county’s other long-standing educational hubs south along Fountain Creek and Bear Creek.

“What we really wanted to do was make sure this third one is going above and beyond,” Marts said, “and we really wanted to make sure we were reaching out to as wide an audience as possible.”

Last year was also spent scouting a location for the nature center. A current concept shows it situated along a service road near the middle of Fox Run Regional Park — a concept that has drawn opposition.

Critics see the nature center tearing down trees and disrupting the very habitat the facility claims to promote. Others have voiced concerns of increased traffic around a park beloved for its silence and natural feel.

“The nature center takes up one acre of a park well over 400,” Marts said, adding that construction will be accompanied by restoration along the road. “Overall the natural area will see a benefit.”

The location is still being finalized, Marts said. As is the full design, beyond the canopy walk. The goal is to get the design to 60% realized this summer and fully complete by the end of the year, Marts said. “Then we’ll be able to really start focusing in on getting the money raised and getting it built.”

The project timeline shows construction starting in 2025, with a grand opening sometime in 2026. But advocates see funding as a big question.

The county has committed $1 million to the job projecting to run more than $10 million. “A huge percentage of it will be third-party funding,” Marts said. He said more than $2 million has been raised — donations are being accepted at tdg-frnc.com — while the hope is for grants to follow the nature center’s final plans.

It’s easy to get caught up in those plans, Marts said — in ambitious concepts like the canopy walk.

“We’ve been talking about the design and the building, and that’s important,” he said. “The message I want to get out there is, you know, nature centers are environmental education centers that are going to create stewards for our parks and our natural areas. … The purpose of the nature center is to provide a window to the outdoors. To get people comfortable and interested and get them out in the park.”