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The Trails and Open Space Coalition has sent a letter to Colorado Springs Utilities raising concerns about their "recreation concept plan" for the south slope of Pikes Peak. In the letter, TOSC said the plan should "state CSU’s commitment to helping complete the Ring the Peak trail, especially since the concept was first envisioned in public form in CSU’s own Pikes Peak Multi-Use Plan (Sept. 1999)."
"On the west, the proposed Mason/Boemer trail should be extended to the west CSU boundary to enable future connection to the west. We understand that the USFS is reviewing their land designation which should be completed in the near future, which Scott Campbell noted was the reason why possible connection to the Ring the Peak trail was not included in the Plan. Although it would be best if the trail avoided the lambing areas, seasonal closures could be considered to address any issues. This may necessitate a secondary route to allow the Ring the Peak Trail to remain open during these periods.
On the east, the Ute Indian Trail shown in the Concept Plan should be extended to French Creek following the historic trail corridor, rather than exiting to US 24 across from Waldo Canyon. We are concerned about the additional user impact on the Barr Trail lot and on parking in the Ruxton Ave area and would encourage additional access points to distribute the user impact. The additional points of access should include connections to Rainbow Falls, the existing trailhead off of Winter Street, and the Waldo Canyon lot, although there are US 24 pedestrian/vehicle traffic concerns crossing US 24 at this location. Preserving the existing trails and providing for trail links to the Mesa Ave. neighborhood, Waldo Canyon and to Rainbow Falls are important. We suggest that the existing Pipeline rail be considered as it would require that less new trail will need to be built. It is a nice contour-line trail and thus is easily sustainable. All trails should be connected and true to the vision of the Ring the Peak Trail with spoke trails to the summit. For example, the Mason/Boemer Reservoir trail should connect to the Moraine Lake trail.
All new trails in the Concept Plan should be non-motorized multi-use, including the use of mountain bikes.
Develop and provide an implementation schedule for trail construction, improvements and public opening.
Provide stakeholders the ability comment on the proposed final Concept Plan prior to release.
Please consider the following comments on funding the proposed recreation in the Plan:
User access parking fees should be a source of funding. These funds should go into a dedicated fund for the operations and maintenance of the South Slope recreation properties, and not into a general fund.
There is a ‘public’ obligation to provide public access to public lands, as the City of Colorado Springs owns the land, and thus some of the ‘costs’ should be borne by the rate payers. The environmental and CSU mission constraints need to be addressed, as experience has shown that designed public access has little impact on water quality and utility costs in other locales around the country.
To reduce costs, the trailhead and day use areas could be less developed, in line with the typical access points used by the USFS. Initially provide basic signed, road base parking areas with perimeter demarcation and proper drainage. More parking area should be provided than shown in the Concept Plan, as on a typical summer weekend, user demand may overwhelm the proposed parking area."
The 9275 acre watershed contains three reservoirs and one lake. The 5.6 mile Mason/Boehmer Reservoir Trail would begin at the main access road, travel the west side of Mason Reservoir and allow hiking and equestrian use. Bicycles would not be allowed. CSU claims excluding mountin bikes reduces the potential risk to bighorn sheep and their lambing areas in the vicinity. A second trail - the Lake Moraine trail, would connect the Captain Jacks Trail to Mt. View Trail and provide a connection to the Barr Trail. Bicycles would be allowed on this trail. Under the plan, fishing would be allowed on the south and east shoreline of McReynolds Reservoir along with non-motorized hand-launched boating.
At the open house, members of the audience raised concerns about limited access for bicyclists and no accomodation for the proposed "Ring the Peak" trail. http://www.ringthepeak.com/ The concept plan calls for developing a "limited recreation program" with the potential for "expansion and adjustments in the future." Colorado Springs Utilities has hired outside consultants to develop a "concept plan" that would serve the environmental needs of the utility and provide limited outdoor recreation to the public. The final watershed access plan is scheduled to be presented to CSU's Board of Directors (Colorado Springs City Council) next fall for final approval. As of yet a timeline or funding mechanism has not been determined. For more information on the plan:http://www.csu.org/residential/environment/recreation/watershed/item4273.pdf
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