Draft plan calls for ban of mountain bikes on new Cheyenne Mountain State Park trails

From Jim Schwerin
Medicine Wheel Trail Advocates

As many of you know, Cheyenne Mountain State Park has historically been a fantastic place to mountain bike.  This is partly because Medicine Wheel and IMBA partnered with the park management about a decade ago in a very successful program to develop the park with multiple uses in mind.

More recently, the City of Colorado Springs and the State of Colorado were able to acquire the top of Cheyenne Mountain and add it to the park.  It's a spectacular piece of property. It's been several years coming, but a draft plan for the additions to the park has been produced, with trails to the top of Cheyenne Mountain.

Under the draft plan, bikes will not be allowed anywhere on the new property. Needless to say, Medicine Wheel is appalled at this outcome.  We have tried to answer the concerns of the current park management about the use of bikes in the new property.  We have asked for a compromise in which bikes would be allowed as far up as the "saddle" on the south side of the mountain, with an eye towards future connections in Cheyenne Canyon.  But our requests and discussions have apparently fallen on deaf ears.

We're asking for your help. There will be a public open house on Wednesday, July 25, from 5:30 p.m. to 8:30 p.m. at the Crowne Plaza Hotel, during which the public is invited to comment on the new plan. Please save the date, show up, and let the park management know (as strongly but politely as you can) how important it is to be able to ride the new addition to Cheyenne Mountain State Park.

Medicine Wheel Trail Advocates has always valued its role as a partner in the development and management of the Cheyenne Mountain State Park  and we very sincerely want to continue to be a positive, productive partner going forward.  We are extremely disappointed in the current direction that the proposed plan has taken and very strongly request that the State Parks and Wildlife Division reconsider allowing mountain biking in the new section of the park.