Outdoor Pikes Peak Initiative · Article 15 of 24
Connectivity is the value most locals can picture. The statement is short: connecting communities and recreation opportunities creates a more sustainable, equitable, and enjoyable future. The June 2024 sessions filled in the picture. People wanted trails connected to each other, underserved communities connected to trails, social trails recognized where that makes sense, and connections that are safe.
The projects that carry the value
The task force put a regional trail master plan first on the priority list. The appendix description says it will unify existing and future trails into a seamless, user-focused network, in collaboration with land managers, so the experience is exceptional and the network is sustainable. Second is the 63-mile Ring the Peak Trail, a continuous loop around the mountain that ties existing trails together, connects communities, and is supposed to preserve habitat while serving hikers, bikers, and other nature enthusiasts. The Front Range Trail — an idea the plan says has been discussed for years — is further down the list, with a charge to develop the strategy and the practical methods to link existing trails and communities.
Equity is in the sentence on purpose
Community visioning maps separated “front door” access along the urban edge from the backcountry ring. Pop-up voting in southeast Colorado Springs was a correction to a process that could otherwise have heard only from people who already drive to trailheads. Survey comments preserved in the appendix, and the plan’s own recreation value, keep returning to short urban trails, youth exposure, and access that is not limited to the already-served. The Gold Belt Byway trail feasibility study, the Royal Loop and Grand Canyon Hills trail in Fremont County, and an access-through-transportation initiative are the smaller projects that make the same point away from the Peak itself.
The plan is careful not to treat every desire line as a trail to adopt. “Where it makes sense” is the phrase from the review sessions. The Areas of Opportunity map and the conservation summary exist so a connection that looks obvious on a phone can be checked against habitat, ownership, and what is already built.
Source: Outdoor Pikes Peak Initiative Vision Plan 2025, prepared through the Pikes Peak Outdoor Recreation Alliance as the local Colorado Outdoor Regional Partnership, with support from Colorado Parks and Wildlife and Great Outdoors Colorado. Project team: PPORA, Trails and Open Space Coalition, N.E.S. Inc., Bachman PR, and the University of Colorado Colorado Springs Geography Department. The plan was written across a four-year process and released in 2025; some statistics reflect a point in time before publication. Connectivity value, page 96; community review, page 91; project descriptions, pages 474–478; regional possibilities, page 79.
