From the top of a red-rock perch southeast of Cave of the Winds, you can see Pikes Peak on one side and Garden of the Gods on the other. Gillian Rossi, the city's parks director, told The Gazette in April that it's "one of the best viewsheds in the city." The perch is part of Black Canyon Open Space, 38 acres the city owns just north of town. It's also the one city open space in Manitou you can't officially walk into yet.
On Sunday, Nov. 8, at 9 a.m., the city's Open Space Advisory Committee has a Trailmixers outing on its calendar called "Black Canyon reveal." The city has not announced an opening. Crews have spent 2026 building the trails before the city builds the front door, on purpose. So Nov. 8 is a guided first look at a trail network whose official entrance is still being worked out with Colorado Springs and the Colorado Department of Transportation.
A small parcel that took eight years to reach
Black Canyon Open Space is made up of three parcels between Highway 24 and Black Canyon Road. The city bought two of them in spring 2016. The piece that changed everything came in May 2024, when the city bought the easternmost parcel, about four acres, from Westside LLC. That purchase improved access to the land. According to The Gazette, it opened a way in off Black Canyon Road, and that's what set formal planning in motion.
That puts Black Canyon on a short list of Manitou-owned open spaces, alongside Iron Mountain and Red Mountain. Palmer Land Conservancy holds a conservation easement on about 33.48 of the acres and enforces its terms. And it has nothing to do with the Colorado Springs project at the Black Canyon Quarry. Private land separates the two properties.
City Council unanimously approved the Black Canyon Open Space Master Plan on March 4, 2025. The city's announcement described turning existing informal paths into a multi-use trail system for hiking, biking, wildlife watching and interpretation.
What the finished network is supposed to look like
As The Gazette described the plan, it all starts at a small pedestrian bridge and trailhead off Black Canyon Road, near Garden Drive. That's the road that continues to Balanced Rock in Garden of the Gods. Three trails climb from the bridge to a short set of loops, about 2 miles in total. Rossi told the paper it's meant for view-seeking hikers, dog walkers, picnickers and mountain bikers, "especially if you're looking for somewhere not as crowded."
Two miles is short next to the Red Mountain or Iron Mountain outings many locals already know. Rossi's phrase for it in The Gazette's April story was "small but mighty." What Black Canyon adds is a close-to-town loop with a big view, on the northeast edge of Manitou, where the city has had no open space trail system of its own.
The plan's walk-in route is the part that got the most scrutiny. You'd park on El Paso Boulevard by Fields Park, cross at a new crosswalk, and follow a path along Black Canyon Road to the bridge. The plan also names the Dillon Mobility Hub as a possible extra parking spot once it's built.
A year of trail work, in order
The trail work has been visible in volunteer workdays and committee minutes all year:
- Spring 2026. Volunteers for Outdoor Colorado crews cut about 330 linear feet of trail and built several rock features to stabilize it.
- May 9. Manitou Trail CATS led a workday with 12 volunteers.
- May 20. Rocky Mountain Field Institute began a three-week contract, working 10-hour days Wednesday through Saturday. Its first job was an alternate alignment that routes the trail around a sacred site. RMFI also planned four volunteer days: two for corporate crews and two open to the public.
- June through August. The committee's vice chair scheduled evening trail sessions from 5 to 7:30 p.m. on June 15, June 29, July 6, July 20, Aug. 3 and Aug. 17.
- Sept. 28. The committee's agenda still included Black Canyon trail work and an update on a Colorado Parks and Wildlife grant.
The sacred-site reroute shows how carefully this network is being laid out. The committee's May 18 minutes record that the revised alignment was reviewed on site and agreed to before RMFI started building it.
Why the trails come before the entrance
The order is deliberate. In April, Rossi said the trails could be finished this year, with more technical work needed before opening. Here's how she put it to The Gazette:
"There is some work we need to do with (Colorado Department of Transportation) and Colorado Springs to increase mobility and safety to the open space."
Asked when the entrance could be finished, Rossi told The Gazette, "I'm guessing that will be late 2026 or early 2027." She said the city wants the trail system done before the official entrance is ready, "so we don't have folks hiking on half-finished trails or hiking on a trail system that doesn't have wayfinding signage."
The entrance design was still changing in late spring. At the May 18 committee meeting, Rossi reported that engineers from Manitou Springs and Colorado Springs were actively considering putting the access path on the Garden of the Gods side of Black Canyon Road, with more talks planned. That's a big choice for anyone walking in from Fields Park, because it decides which side of the road the path runs on. As of this week, the city hasn't announced a final route or an opening date.
What Nov. 8 is, going by the city's own listing
Trailmixers is new this fall. The city's Sept. 25 City News describes it as a monthly pop-up. One weekend morning a month at 9 a.m., committee members stand at a rotating trailhead for an hour to point residents toward new routes. Expect three suggested bike-to-trail options and free trail mix.
The two listings so far are very different in how much they tell you:
| Oct. 17 outing | Nov. 8 outing | |
|---|---|---|
| Day and time | Saturday, 9 a.m. | Sunday, 9 a.m. |
| Destination | Intemann Trail to Red Mountain | "Black Canyon reveal" |
| Meeting point | Spring Street Trailhead | Not yet published |
| Parking guidance | Manitou Avenue, with 50-hour free resident parking | Not yet published |
| Bike guidance | Up Ruxton Avenue to the new Spring Street bike rack | Not yet published |
The November listing gives no meeting point, parking or bike directions. The city's Oct. 23 City News lists events from October through December, and Black Canyon isn't on it. With the Fields Park crossing and the bridge still unbuilt, where the group meets on Nov. 8 is the detail that matters most.
Before you go on Nov. 8
- Check for a meeting point. Look at the city's next City News or the Open Space Advisory Committee before Sunday morning. Without the planned Black Canyon Road path, the usual walk-in route doesn't exist yet.
- Treat it as a guided preview. The city hasn't announced that the open space is open. Rossi has said the official entrance comes after the trails are finished and signed.
- Bring questions about the entrance. The committee members leading the walk are the same people tracking the access path and the bridge in their meeting agendas.
- Plan for a short hike. The finished network is about 2 miles. The Trailmixers guides are scheduled for one hour.
- Bring a friend. The city's invitation reads "Bring a friend, bring your kids, bring your mom."
If you head out early, the city says the shuffleboard courts at Mansions Park have been resurfaced and painted and are ready for play. Later in the month, Visit Manitou lists the Christmas tree lighting at the Town Clock on Nov. 25, 5 to 7 p.m.
Robin is a lifelong Colorado Springs resident, and Colorado Springs Collective keeps watching projects like Black Canyon because a new trailhead changes how a part of town gets used day to day. If you live near Fields Park or El Paso Boulevard and want to talk through what the planned entrance could mean for your street, Robin is happy to walk through it with you, and you can request your home valuation anytime.
