Portions of the Roundup Trail, Red Rock Canyon Trail, and Red Rock Canyon Rim Trail will be closed beginning February 22nd. This closure is expected to last several weeks, depending on weather. During this time, heavy equipment will be in use. For public safety, entry into the work zone or use of the trail sections described is prohibited. See closure map for more details.
Closure details:
Red Rock Canyon Trail: Between Quarry Pass Trail and Red Rock Rim Trail
Roundup Trail: Between Mesa Trail and Red Rock Rim Trail
Red Rock Rim Trail: Between Landfill Road Trail and Red Rock Canyon Trail
This closure will affect East-West connectivity within the Open Space.
Plan on alternate routes.
February 10, 2023 – Project update: Due to the nature of the work being conducted, Roundup Trail will be closed between Mesa Trail and the Red Rock Rim Trail beginning Monday, February 13th. This closure is expected to last several weeks, depending on weather. During this time, heavy equipment will be in use. For public safety, entry into the work zone or use of the trail section outlined is prohibited.
Unfortunately, the city now anticipates this closure extending into President’s day weekend (Feb 18+19th). The city is still attempting to minimize closures as much as possible while keeping visitors safe. Closures will be signed, with suggested detours.
HERE is a map of the closure.
Visitors will also see signage deployed at all trailheads, with the project overview and website listed. As a reminder, the website can be found at https://coloradosprings.gov/RedRockProject . Beyond the six work areas within this project, visitors may also see equipment as we work on the following:
February 1, 2023 More than 4.3 miles of existing and new trails will be improved and constructed by the city starting this month. Here is a link from Medicine Wheel Trail Advocates from a presentation today by the city at the TOPS Working Committee meeting. The areas/trails to be improved are Sand Canyon, Chamberlain, Overlook, Palmer, Roundup and Mesa. Here is a link to this presentation which is lengthy and detailed for those interested: 2023 trail improvements. Included in this presentation is an update on the USFS closure of a section of Palmer Trail where large boulders damaged a bridge and forced the closure.
Last fall, the Friends received a gracious letter from an instructor at Ute Pass Elementary school thanking us for helping them achieve a Leave No Trace Youth Program Accreditation. This is the first school in the nation to do this. Read details HERE. On April 22, 2022, FoRRC teamed up with teachers, parents and students from the school for an educational field day in Red Rock Canyon Open Space for this(see below).
Our newest edition of the Red Rock Rag is now available here. Enjoy some interesting articles from your Board of Directors and others. Many thanks to our Board Member Jenny who put this newsletter together from Germany.
June 28, 2022 The following is a letter sent to your Board in response the to the article “Their Way or the Highway” included in the latest Red Rock Rag newsletter (there is a link to the Rag in the post above.) The author wanted her name to appear in the letter.
Democracy is government by the people. In the recent Red Rock Rag, one writer made the point that not only do locals pay taxes on parks so do visitors. I would humbly suggest, in turn, that locals typically pay more taxes since they live here and that many also invest their sweat equity, as in trail-building, fund-raising, and/or advocating for the parks system in a variety of ways.
Limiting access of the Friends Groups to the Parks Department and dictating how and in what manner they may, if at all, attempt to have access strikes me as downright undemocratic. What is the Parks Department afraid of that prompts them to exercise this degree of control? The fact is that locals do pay the salaries, some of which are quite generous, of the Parks Department staff; and their job in turn is to serve the public.
I find their current stance vis-a-vis the RRC Friends Group and the limitations that are currently being imposed — to the extent that park staff members are currently even refusing to meet with members of Friends Group– to be not only extreme, but also downright ironic. There is well-documented historic evidence that Red Rock Canyon would not even exist had it not been for the hard work, generosity of spirit, and vision of numerous citizen volunteers who supported it with their dedicated efforts.
Whenever there is a success story like Red Rock Canyon, there are many putative fathers and people tend to forget the true origin story. This is one reason why I was motivated to write History in Stone: The Story of Red Rock Canyon. It was an undertaking of ten years and any who read it will fully understand that it was citizens, including the likes of you and Don Ellis, who were responsible for saving this most geologically stunning (aside from GoG) and beloved of our local parks, with its cathedral-like towers and its upswept red sandstone formations that are a natural continuation of Garden of the Gods.
I, for one, am both shocked and appalled by the Parks Department’s recent and inexplicable stance. I write this with the intent and the hope that it be published as a letter to the editor of the Red Rock Rag.
This is not the time for self-censorship. Instead, there is a clear need to speak truth to power.
Thanks for your good work and for letting me bend your ear,
Ruth Obee
Pre-School
Friends of Red Rock Canyon hosted the entire Ute Pass Elementary School for some education on the open space, hiking and a good time on April 27th, 2022. One hundred eighty students, pre-school through 6th grade with parents and teachers enjoyed a day in RRC with five members of FoRRC. Shanti and Dave manned a station at the Bock Pavilion and talked to the pre-school through 3rd grade students about the history of the canyon and how it was acquired. David manned a station at the pond and talked more about history, water issues and the drought. Glenn and Dan each took a group of about 35 students on a hike south to the Roundup Trail and back north through the quarry and back to the pavilion. They talked about land fill issues and trail etiquette and maintenance. Some board members are shifting their focus from physical work on the land to education, advocacy and communication with the local community. This was our first opportunity to get involved with this activity. We sincerely thank the teachers, administrators, parents and kids of Ute Pass elementary for this opportunity.
Below is a link to a KKTV newscast at RRCOS about the importance of staying on designated trails and the damage caused by rogue trails. https://www.kktv.com/2021/08/24/destructive-avoidable-park-rangers-reminding-hikers-not-go-off-trails-or-take-short-cuts/
These photos were sent to FoRRC by Scott Schow, great, great grandson of the original founder of the Greenlee Quarry. The Second photo is of Juanita Schow and Bud Greenlee, grandchildren of the original owner of the quarry.
If you have an idea of how to improve our open space please share it with us. Your friends’ group Board of Directors is looking for suggestions and we will consider all reasonable ideas. Please contact us here .
Here is a link to an interesting article about on rock cairns at National parks: Rock Cairns
LEAVE NO TRACE