 Volunteers work on seating an 8-foot, 6-by-6-foot timber step as part of the project June 4 along the first third of a mile of the Palmer/Red Rock Loop Trail leading up from the Section 16 trailhead. They were among more than 50 people who worked on the project - the first in Section 16 since Colorado Springs bought it as open space last December. Westside Pioneer photo
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Symbolically timed for National Trails Day, it was the first project overseen by Colorado Springs Parks since the city bought the 640-acre open-space parcel bordering Red Rock Canyon and White Acres last December.
“Thank you all so very, very much for an incredible National Trails Day,” e-mailed Deb McDonald, the city's program coordinator for regional parks, trails and open space, to participants afterward. “It was quite simply tremendous, and wouldn't have been possible without the generous sharing of your time and energy.”
Other lead groups in the project were the Friends of the Peak, the Colorado Mountain Club, Friends of Red Rock Canyon and the volunteer arm of the REI sporting goods chain.
The trailhead is off Gold Camp Road, about half a mile up from the intersection of 26th Street and Lower Gold Camp Road. Popular with hikers and cyclists is the Palmer/Red Rock Loop Trail, which starts at the trailhead. People can follow the loop up and around about five miles to High Drive or, close to a mile in, fork onto the Intemann Trail heading northwest toward Manitou Springs.
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