A popular mountain biking destination in the Colorado Springs area has gone through a recent face lift. The North Cheyenne Canon Park received Colorado Spring’s first entirely double black diamond trail, a completely new climbing trail, and a wooden feature to keep things running smoothly.
However, the story goes back much further than when trail work began a few months ago or when proposals were given the green light a handful of years ago. These new trails have been a decade in the making for Colorado Springs and Medicine Wheel Trail Advocates (MedWheel).
Colorado Springs city planning
Cory Sutela is the Executive Director for MedWheel, a local trail organization that has been around since 1991. Sutela got involved in 2005 as a volunteer, eventually stepping into the director role in 2019.
“We were heavily involved with the 2014 city parks system master plan, which is where the seeds for this project were planted,” Sutela told us. There was a need to identify modern, gravity-driven mountain bike trails, and Colorado Springs stepped up to the plate.
“Since then, every city of Colorado Springs individual master plan has considered the mountain bike experience, including in Ute Valley Park, Austin Bluffs, and the recently approved Blodgett Open Space plan,” Sutela said.
The “master plan” Sutela refers to is Colorado Springs’ Park System Master Plan, where the language clearly supports the area’s growth of mountain bike recreation. Park designers wrote in the 2014 plan:
Some areas may be considered for implementation of new design strategies or modifications and trail planning to accommodate specific user groups such as mountain bikers […] Trail designs that accommodate the needs of different types of riders and ability levels such as classic cross-country and back-country rides, flow trails, gateway trails, and gravity and purpose-built directional trails can expand the diversity of the network, creating a system that people want to return to again and again.
When conversations about improvements to North Cheyenne Canon Park began in 2018, Colorado Springs put their words into action. For Sutela and MedWheel, they wanted to focus on keeping some of the classic trails Cheyenne Canon is known for while reducing conflict and providing the experience trail users are seeking.
The addition of the Upper Ladders trail
Trail organizations and land managers alike are always looking for ways to reduce trail conflict. Until recently, the North Cheyenne Canon Park had its own trail conflict issues. Fortunately, many of these have been addressed by the recent changes.
“[The] Chutes trail for years rode like a single-direction downhill [trail] except that it was multi-directional, with predictable outcomes,” Sutela told us. While climbing the Chutes, which was until more recently multi-directional, Sutela was hit by a downhill rider struggling to control his speed.
Surely Sutela wasn’t the only trail user experiencing conflict in the trail system. MedWheel eventually provided the layout, design, and part of the funds for revamping the Chutes into a single-direction, downhill-only trail.
Along with Chutes, MedWheel also advocated for the Penrose trail — also known as Gravel Gutter — and Captain Morgans, which are black and double black diamond descents, respectively. Captain Morgans sits near the end of one of Cheyenne Canon’s most iconic trails, Captain Jack’s, and takes a more direct route down the mountain, dropping 500 feet in less than half a mile.
Advocating for these trails, especially Chutes being a descending only, meant MedWheel needed to provide a way to get to the top. Thus, the Upper Ladders trail was born, which solved more problems than just providing a climbing trail.
In addition to reducing conflict by allowing some trails to be descending only, Upper Ladders keeps mountain bikers off the former climb, Gold Camp Road. “Some riders might still prefer the steady climb on Gold Camp Road since Ladders is undulating, but we expect most users will be glad to get off the road,” Sutela said.
While Upper Ladders is multi-directional, most users will use the trail to climb and connect to other popular trails, such as Columbine. It also connects to the lower section of Captain Jack’s, putting riders just half a mile away from the chunky and rowdy descents of Gravel Gutter and Captain Morgans.
Captain Morgans sees a new wooden feature
For years, Captain Morgans has been a local favorite at North Cheyenne Canon for when riders want to test their limits and get a bit rowdy. However, with the addition of the Upper Ladders trail, Captain Morgans now has a trail crossing where it previously didn’t.
Traditionally, Captain Morgans ended uninterrupted at Gold Camp Road. Now, riding just one-tenth of a mile up the Upper Ladders climb has ascending riders intersecting with descending riders on Captain Morgans.
The solution? A large wooden feature that serves as an overpass drop for Captain Morgans descenders and a tunnel of sorts for Upper Ladders climbers.
“[The] crossing of Morgan’s was done by the Parks staff,” Sutela told us. He raved about the construction of the wooden feature, giving credit to David Deitemeyer and his staff for designing and building the feature. “And the detailed design created on the ground by Timberline TrailCraft, a local landscape and trail contractor.”
Not only does the wooden feature help reduce inevitable trail conflicts by allowing riders to pass more efficiently at the intersection, but the added five-foot drop is in line with the difficulty of Captain Morgans. For Sutela and MedWheel, this is a testament to Colorado Springs’ willingness to hold to the promises made about mountain bike recreation.
Upper Ladders also intersects near the bottom of Gravel Gutter, where another feature similar to the one on Captain Morgans is possible. “We anticipate another structure for the crossing of Penrose/Gravel Gutter over Ladders — design provided by Colorado Springs Parks staff.”
