Construction is underway on an anticipated and contentious trail network in one of Colorado Springs’ most popular parks.
The city expects to close Daniels Pass Trail this month while a replacement is being finished on the slopes of North Cheyenne Cañon Park, starting from a new parking lot and trailhead along the preserve’s main road. The closure will mark the end of what has been a long-cherished downhill ride for mountain bikers.
In crafting the park’s 2018 master plan, officials found the steep, rugged track “highly unsustainable,” pointing to erosion and incised “scars” along the hillside.
The city’s recent Facebook post announcing the upcoming closure reignited old debate over the decision.
Some commented about the city “ignoring” support of maintaining Daniels Pass. Based on other modifications and additions at open spaces in recent years, critics also questioned the city’s promise for a “singletrack” trail. One feared “another stroller highway.”
These have all been concerns heard by Cory Sutela. Medicine Wheel Trail Advocates’ executive director has served as riders’ voice in negotiations with land managers.
The current Daniels Pass “is clearly not sustainable according to parks’ standards,” Sutela said. “Now, could you invest a bunch of resources and still keep that downhill nature? You could argue about that, and we did argue about that.
“The ultimate determination was that this isn’t the best place for such a downhill trail, and it would take so many resources to make it sustainable, and then it would only be a single-direction bike trail.”
Instead, the new Daniels Pass is expected to switchback about 2 miles up to its current ridge in a way that designers say will appeal to visitors on foot and bike, ascending and descending. From the top, travelers can drop the opposite side to what will be the Sweetwater Canyon network — a series of loops in wooded acreage the city received in a 2016 land exchange with The Broadmoor. Also from the ridge, a new hiking-only trail to the top of Mount Muscoco will be built, an alternate route to go with the current route from the Mount Cutler trailhead.
About 6 1/2 miles of trail are blueprinted, funded largely by a Colorado Parks and Wildlife grant. The city contracted with FlowRide Concepts on the project, which is expected to be finished late this fall.
“I’m not happy (the current Daniels Pass) is going away,” Sutela said. “But I accept it as a compromise.”
In talks leading up to North Cheyenne Cañon’s 2018 master plan, Sutela said he and Medicine Wheel board members agreed on the change considering other promises in the plan, namely the Chutes being established as city parks’ first downhill-only, bike-only trail and a similar designation posed for the trail known as Captain Morgan’s. The plan calls for two “downhill-oriented, very challenging, sustainable” lines in that trail’s area.
Sutela said he’s been in talks with the city about a new technical route at Pulpit Rock as well. Still, he’s answering to fellow riders who mourn the loss of rugged rides and so-called “sanitation” of singletrack.
“This is what happens for these parks that are heavily used and very close to town,” Sutela said. “The city is looking at it from a systemwide perspective. It means that some trails that are really only used by a small number, those are the ones that are most at-risk.”
This content was originally published here.
