RED ROCK CANYON OPEN SPACE INTERPRETIVE MASTER PLAN Red Rock Canyon: Master Planned Trails
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RedRed RockRock CanyonCanyon OpenOpen SpaceSpace Interpretive Plan Table of Contents Acknowledgements...........................................................................3 Introduction......................................................................................4 Topography .......................................................................................5 History ..............................................................................................6 Interpretive Planning........................................................................8 Interpretive Topics of Significant Interest........................................9 Verbatim Responses by Question..............................................10-30 Notes from Small Group Discussion ..............................................31 Small Group Responses by Topic ...................................................32 City of Colorado Springs Parks, City of Colorado Springs Parks & Recreation & Cultural Services Recreation Advisory Board Department Jim Schwerin (Chair) Paul D. Butcher, Director Kent Obee (Vice Chair) Daisy Chun Rhodes Master Planning Team Mona Douillard Don Ellis, Friends of Red Rock Nancy Hobbs Canyon Jill Gaebler Sarah Keith, Landscape Architect Mary Mashburn Christian Lieber, Design, Carl Reinhardt Development and TOPS Richard Stettler Julie Levi, Public Communications Matt Mayberry, Cultural Services Colorado Springs City Council Eugene Smith, Cultural Services Lionel Rivera, Mayor Karlee Thompson, Friends of Red Larry Small, Vice Mayor Rock Canyon Scott Hente, Councilmember District 1 Additional Assistance by: Darryl Glenn, Scott Abbott Councilmember District 2 Bill Arbogast Jerry Heimlicher, Mark Izold Councilmember District 3 Celinda Kaelin Margaret Radford, Mel McFarland Councilmember District 4 Sharon Milito Tom Gallagher, Mike Poltenovage Councilmember At-Large Kurt Schroeder Randy Purvis, Scott Thompson Councilmember At-Large Jan Martin, Councilmember At-Large Project Consultants Approval Date: February 14, 2008 Kezziah-Watkins Tweed Kezziah, Facilitator Susan Watkins, Facilitator Kimmell Graphics Maureen Kimmell, Graphic Design CITY OF COLORADO SPRINGS PARKS, RECREATION & CULTURAL SERVICES DEPARTMENT 2 RED ROCK CANYON OPEN SPACE INTERPRETIVE MASTER PLAN Red Rock Canyon: Master Planned Trails ToManitou Springs d R Hw W e y -24 ( Co g Cima lo d rro r i n W H St) ad ig R o h St A ve ail Tr Lower n o y Dog Loop n a C d L n ow a er Downtown S H Colorado Upper o g Springs Dog Loop b a l c i k a T Meadowlark r il T r a a Trail r a i s T l e n S M o 3 l 1 i l y i s t a n r a r S a T T t e n C o l h v i t il i y k a d t a a r v n c T l a a r P B l o C T s n m l p R il d i e o H n m y d R l a e a e l t S n e s t n k y a R c r n e C C o e o r k R C c G o d Q R e u R d l a e i R a r r r T l i y n a o r P y l T l i a n a i a s s s a T a C e ra r M il r d T T n l a p i S a y u r e d l n T l u ee a o nl V R ee r k G c a b g o H il a r t T S th Section 16 n 6 o 2 Trail Connection i S L Thematic Trails: In tem a n Contemplative Trail n T Geology Trail Loop r a i Area Off-Limits l (Old Landfill) History Trail Loop Off-leash Trail Solid Line: Existing Trail Dashed Line: Planned Trail Park Boundary Trailhead & Parking Picnic Area CITY OF COLORADO SPRINGS Restrooms Parks, Recreation & Cultural Services Map Version: August 2007 Contour Interval: 10' c 2007 City of Colorado Springs on behalf of the Colorado Springs Utilities. RED ROCK CANYON OPEN SPACE INTERPRETIVE MASTER PLAN 3 Introduction Red Rock Canyon Open Space activities on the site included a consists of 789 acres of land located on campground and a number of mobile- the western edge of Colorado Springs. It homes sited throughout the lower is situated at the interface between the portions of the property and along 31st Great Plains and the Rocky Mountains. Street. Here, a series of hogbacks expose layers Several ambitious plans in the past of sedimentary rock that have been for resort development of the property turned upward at the base of Pikes Peak. never materialized. A large-scale model To see a world in a grain Canyons run between the hogbacks and of the site showing high-rise towers, provide shelter for a variety of plants convention facilities, a golf course, and of sand, and wildlife, while the rocks of the schematic drawings, are all that remain And a heaven in a wild hogbacks form colorful backdrops of of this dream. salmon, gold, and other shades. The site was in private ownership flower, Red Rock Canyon has hosted a until 2003, when it was acquired by the variety of human endeavors over time. City of Colorado Springs as open space. Hold infinity in the Among these are several quarry sites, Acquisition was accomplished with palm of your hand, where sandstone was extracted from the funds from TOPS (Trails Open Space and vertical fins and gravel mines in the Parks), GOCO (Great Outdoors An eternity in an hour. valley portions of the eastern half of the Colorado), and conservation trust funds. property. A large landfill operation was The land was divided into five separate – William Blake closed and sealed off in 1986, at the tracts, and each track has specific southeast end of the property. Other restrictions as to how it can be utilized. 4 RED ROCK CANYON OPEN SPACE INTERPRETIVE MASTER PLAN Topography The dominant topographic features of the landfill and other restrictions are of Red Rock Canyon are a series of required until at least 2020. North of ridges or hogbacks trending from north the landfill, gravel has been extracted to south through the site. These are the and the area reclaimed with grassland result of bedded sedimentary rock strata vegetation. that were upturned during the The third canyon in this series is formation of the Rocky Mountains. known as Red Rock Canyon. It is the Differential weathering of the strata has heart of the site and gives the property resulted in a series of ridges and valleys its name. Red Rock Canyon contains as the softer material eroded away. The many of the site’s unique cultural third canyon in this series is known as features, including large quarries cut Red Rock Canyon. It is the heart of the into the sandstone ridge that forms the site and gives the property its name. western wall of the canyon. A small cave Red Rock Canyon contains many of the is contained within the sheer sandstone site’s unique cultural features, including of the eastern wall. The Bock Residence, large quarries cut into the sandstone with its associated outbuildings, ponds, ridge that forms the western wall of the and large lawn area, is located within canyon. A small cave is contained the lower portion of Red Rock Canyon. within the sheer sandstone of the The core features of this structure, the eastern wall. The Bock Residence, with rock walls and chimneys, will be its associated outbuildings, ponds, and preserved when the house is converted large lawn area, is located within the into an open air pavilion. lower portion of Red Rock Canyon. West of Red Rock Canyon is a rolling Valleys between these ridges carry water area with sandstone outcrops and ridges, from higher ground south and west of known as Greenlee Canyon. West of the site through the open space. Some that is Sand Canyon. Sand Canyon is of this water collects in reservoirs the least disturbed of the canyons, and constructed by previous owners. In is densely vegetated along its bottom some places, the valleys are fairly steep and sides. The west wall of Sand Canyon in their northward descent towards forms the boundary between the open Fountain Creek. There are five primary space and Manitou Springs, and is a valleys on the property, each one a bit rugged collection of sandstone outcrops larger and more vegetated moving from and dells. east to west. The first two are not Elevations on the site range from a named at present, but the names Wild low point of 6,130 located at the Horse and Gypsum may have been northeast part of the site, to a high applied to them in the past. The next point of 6,740 at the ridgeline on the three are known today as Red Rock, hogback in the southeast part of the Greenlee, and Sand Canyons. site. South and west of the site, the land Each canyon offers a different and rises steeply, culminating at the summit unique experience for the visitor. The of Pikes Peak, approximately 9 miles easternmost valley has mostly low away. vegetation, resulting in an open The natural topography has been character that allows the eroded significantly altered in many places on limestone rocks of the adjacent ridges the property. Roads have been cut, to show prominently. This canyon and diversions and conveyances for water its ridges harbor some of the site’s more have been constructed, and both unique flora. mining and landfill operations have Moving to the west across the site, occurred. An area along the northern the next canyon is the most altered of edge has been significantly altered by the four. Reportedly once deeply cut cut-and-fill operations that resulted in a and densely vegetated along its bottom, steep cut bank paralleling the Highway it has been mined extensively for gravel 24 right-of-way, with a wide level plain and later filled in with a sanitary on some 20 feet or more of fill in landfill.