After nearly a decade of planning and work to complete, a trail in Colorado Springs will finally be opening soon.
Dixon Trail, a 4-mile trek and an old historical homestead, will provide public access to the top of Cheyenne Mountain for the first time, said Mitch Martin, park manager for Cheyenne Mountain State Park.
“I think it's going to be extremely popular,” he said. “The fact that it’s never been open to the public in the past, I think is pretty exciting.”
The property where the trail is was privately owned and it took several years to settle a negotiation for a permanent land easement, Martin said. It wasn’t until 2009, when everything fell into place, that Colorado Parks and Wildlife could begin planning the trail.
Dixon Trail has mainly been constructed by volunteers, Martin said. One group began building the trail from the bottom up in 2011 and a few years later, another group helped assemble the trail from the top down.
When the work is complete it will add 6 ¼ trail miles, bringing Cheyenne Mountain State Park to 28 miles of trail total. But with 3,000 feet of elevation gain, Dixon Trail won’t be for the casual hiker, Martin said.
“This trail is going to be rated difficult to extreme,” he said. “It's a trail people are going to have to plan for a be prepared for.”
The upper section of Dixon will only be open to hikers because of its steep terrain and to protect natural resources, Martin said. The first half will be open to hiking, mountain biking, and equestrian with a turnaround near the 2-mile point.
Martin said he hopes the grand opening of Dixon Trail will be in October.
