In the silent wilds of Colorado Springs’ southwest foothills, David Deitemeyer stopped at a house-sized boulder. He stopped to ponder its history over untold time — however it dislodged from the high, ancient flanks of Cheyenne Mountain and tumbled here.

“Just to think about where it came from,” Deitemeyer remarked. “How it got here, and how it stayed here.”

It’s the kind of wonder he hopes Fishers Canyon Open Space inspires among the broader population of his native city.

Deitemeyer is the Colorado Springs parks department’s senior landscape architect. He’s the one tasked with plotting the recreation and conservation future of these steep, rugged 343 acres the city acquired in a deal that played out in 2021.

It was in coordination with The Conservation Fund, which fronted the $4.2 million to buy the land while the city’s Trails, Open Space and Parks program (TOPS) worked up the sales tax revenue funds to pay the national organization back.

“I was sold by the big vision that the TOPS program had,” said Justin Spring, The Conservation Fund’s Colorado director.

The vision is about to come into focus.

Later this month, the city anticipates posting an online survey to collect thoughts and feedback from interested and concerned people — officially launching the start of a master plan for Fishers Canyon. The first in a series of public meetings is in the works for April.

A months-long process will determine specifics related to hiking, mountain biking and potentially rock climbing on the open space’s upper, soaring crags. It’ll all depend on what city officials say directs such master plans: public sentiment and what’s said to be a balance of outdoor play and preservation.

Leading a tour for The Gazette — the city is keeping the property gated and closed amid large-scale fire mitigation — Deitemeyer pointed to those rocky heights that now represent the city park system’s highest point near 9,000 feet, surpassing North Cheyenne Cañon Park’s Mount Muscoco. The elevated vicinity was homesteaded by Joshua Fisher, who had an entrepreneurial idea to attract picnicking equestrians.

“Our goal is to eventually get folks to hike up there,” Deitemeyer said.

That’s the kind big adventure Fishers Canyon poses, Jeff Davis said. He’s a member of the TOPS working committee — the board that approved the open space acquisition — with particular interest as a nearby resident of the Broadmoor Bluffs neighborhood.

Fishers Canyon, Davis said, could present an experience on par with Dixon Trail, that long footpath toward the top of Cheyenne Mountain from the adjacent state park. On Fishers’ lower slopes, Davis also sees a mellow time in nature, something perhaps more like Stratton Open Space’s meadows and woods.

Over the years, some Broadmoor Bluffs residents have crossed private property to walk their dogs here. But those people have been few, Davis said.

“It’s really more of an unknown, even for the neighborhood,” he said.

Fishers Canyon is the great unknown that he sees becoming the city’s next great escape.

“I think it’ll be unique from maybe everything else,” Davis said.

He added: “Having this kind of opportunity right in your backyard that people would travel for or vacation for, it’s pretty amazing.”

Not all of his Broadmoor Bluffs neighbors will be thrilled, Davis recognized.

It’s another unique aspect of Fishers Canyon, Deitemeyer said: “Obviously we are challenged by an open space in the back of a neighborhood.”

Through the gate at the end of a house-lined street, Deitemeyer has envisioned a flat place for a potential parking lot, away from residents. That won’t quell all concerns about increased traffic through the neighborhood and overflow parking on curbs that some predict.

Traffic and parking along with security and wildfire have been among worries expressed by neighbors in response to an under-review master plan for an expanded Blodgett Open Space on the city’s northwest side. Conservation-minded people have also raised flags, accusing the city of sacrificing habitat for mountain biking. (Officials have emphasized “wildlife corridors” to be free of disturbance, while also pointing to a net decrease of trail mileage after closures to user-made routes.)

Such concerns promise to accompany the plan for Fishers Canyon. They’ve already come up in the city’s preliminary meetings with individuals and groups, said Susan Davies, executive director of Trails and Open Space Coalition.

“People have talked about how do we take a different approach with this?” Davies said. “Wouldn’t it be great to have a limited number of trails, so people can truly have a wild experience back there?”

One trail is talked about most: Chamberlain.

That’s the long-dreamed trail that would travel more than 26 miles between the city’s foothills, north from Blodgett Peak to Cheyenne Mountain. The city counts about 13 miles currently on the ground. Along Cheyenne Mountain’s east face, Fishers Canyon unlocks the southern corridor for the trail.

The open space inspires another dream: the Cheyenne Mountain Heritage Trail, a vision to connect new and historic paths around Pike National Forest to circumnavigate the granite monolith.

This was all part of the “big vision” that drew The Conservation Fund.

“The ability to protect a huge chunk of the Front Range mountain backdrop, while also connecting the Chamberlain Trail and Cheyenne Mountain State Park and the national forest,” Spring said. “That seemed very unusual, that kind of opportunity.”

It was an opportunity through an unlikely source.

The Fishers Canyon property was long owned by Pat Boone, the singing and acting star of the ‘50s and ‘60s. While living in Beverly Hills over the years, the property behind the growing Broadmoor Bluffs had been set aside for a kids camp. Boone had also been connected with a group that eyed building homes on the property.

“He was willing to give conservation a chance,” Spring said.

Now comes the chance for the city.

The master plan will be challenged to find a “balance” between interests, Davis said. He counted himself among neighbors glad the land won’t be for houses.

He said he felt assured Fishers Canyon won’t be like the neighboring Cheyenne Mountain State Park. “Beautiful,” he called it, “but there’s structures there, paved roads, the picnic areas, the campground. … Instantly, Fishers feels way more remote.”

Hiking around the open space, Deitemeyer stopped at an overlook. To the near south was the unmistakable, sloping foot of Cheyenne Mountain, and to the north the mountains rolled to Blodgett Peak. The ridge above was capped by rugged crowns and domes. The city sprawled below but seemed far away.

“It just feels like a different world,” Deitemeyer said.