Jan 18 2010

Cheyenne Mountain State Park (Colorado Springs, Colorado)

Posted by leafworks in Travel, Travel Guides, Wandering, hiking, parks, reviews, travelogues
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Park Information Center

Cheyenne Mountain State Park
* http://parks.state.co.us/Parks/CheyenneMountain/ * Highway 115 across from Fort Carson Gate 1 * Colorado Springs, Colorado *
Colorado’s newest State Park, Cheyenne Mountain State Park took over the lands of the old JL Ranch that is nestled in the foothills of Cheyenne Mountain right in front of NORAD. It is roughly 1,680 acres large. It was acquired in June of 2000 by the City of Colorado Springs, Colorado State parks, Great Outdoors Colorado (GOCO), the Colorado Lottery, El Paso County, and other local private organizations. It represents protection of one of the last significant open spaces along the southern section of the Colorado Front Range. The environments consist of open space of the eastern flank of Cheyenne Mountain and the borders of Colorado’s plains covering the wide variety of landscape, wildlife, botany, and geology the transitional panorama offers. Wildlife consists of deer, elk, mountain lions, black bears, coyotes, foxes, wild turkeys, prairie dogs, red-tailed hawks, and golden eagles. The park first opened in October of 2006 and is currently El Paso county’s only State Park. The Park hosts over 20 miles of trails open to hikers and bikers. Dogs and horses are not permitted since many ground-nesting birds are in the area. The Park has a large information center, gift shop, educational displays, interpretive programs, campgrounds, picnic areas, playgrounds, evening programs, nature hikes, restrooms, and a camp office/store. Rating: 4.5 stars out of 5. Visited 1/8/2010; 1/10/2010; 1/18/2010.