After four years of complicated negotiations and community input, the Outdoor Pikes Peak Initiative announced a decade-long plan on Tuesday that will put Colorado Parks and Wildlife in charge of managing the public lands around “America’s Mountain.”
Their first push will be to complete the Ring Peak Trail, a 95-mile loop around Pikes Peak that is so far only two-thirds complete. The trail will cross land managed by the Pike National Forest and three counties — El Paso, Teller and Fremont. The aim is to finish the loop while having CPW assume management and development of the corridor.
“This is the first time our region has taken a truly regional focus for our outdoors, recognizing that our trails, our open spaces, our natural resources and our wildlife cross boundaries; so must our vision for their future,” said Becky Leinweber, executive director of the Pikes Peak Outdoor Recreation Alliance, which led the effort. “We’re at a pretty pivotal point.”…