Manitou Springs Trail Cats Awaken
Starting in 2014 we Manitoids (residents and lovers of Manitou) are taking responsibility for developing and maintaining the trails and open spaces we all use. We need to give back to this wonderful land and nature. It is up to our community to protect and sustain the beauty around us for future generations. So we have created MANITOU SPRINGS TRAIL CATS (Coalition of Active Trail-builderS OR Manitou Cats for short) to develop a pool of people who are willing to help. Basically we are a friends group for Manitou trails and public land.
How You Can Participate In Our Volunteer Trail Days
We are planning our workdays for 2015. We will be supporting the Intemann/Iron Mountain Trails and other projects suggested by Manitou’s Open Space Advisory Committee [OSAC], Friends of Red Rock Canyon [FoRRC] , FOTP, Medicine Wheel and the Manitou Springs Collaborative.
Generally our workdays will be the second Sunday of the month, unless the is a big event in Manitou in a give month. Workdays will start in April. We will meet at 8:00 AM at the Manitou Free Parking Lot at 10 Old Man’s Trail. We will car pool from there to the project site and work until about 1:00 PM. Then it is off to a local tavern for a friendly beer or beverage of your choice. Presently the date for 2015 are April 12 , May 10 , June 13 (Saturday) , July 12 , August 9 , September 13 , October 11 .
We have plenty of tools and trained crew leaders to help you learn the craft of mountain trail building. There are may jobs on a workday so you can always find work that is more or less strenuous. We need you to register for the workdays so we know how many tools to bring. However, you may also just show up on the day.
See dates and volunteer registration links to the right.
Master Plan For Trails, Open Space and Parks
Manitou Springs is embarking on a Master Plan for trails, parks and open space. You can play a significant role in creating the vision and plan to make a regional trail network for runners, bikers, hikers an nature lovers. Given all the public open space and foot hill we have, our region can become one of the premier communities in the country for healthy outdoor recreation. We have the opportunity to not only design trails for various skill and ability levels, but also allow our trails take us to beautiful vistas and sanctuaries of nature. We will be protecting our natural wild places for generations to come.
Manitou CATS Party
You are invited to a Manitou Cats Party to connect with old trail building friends. We can start to explore and share ideas for new trails and trail improvements in the Manitou region. Over another beer or beverage of your choosing (and free appetizers) we will look at maps and discuss what are the desires/needs of all the different mountain trail user groups. We will have information how you can become involve with the official city Master Plan for Open Space, Parks, Mountain Trails and Non-motorized Urban Trails. Hopefully we will have showing of a photo gallery of pictures from last year’s Iron Mountain Project. The party will be Thursday, March 5th at 5:00 PM at (to be determined) . Stop by and check it out.
The Iron Mountain Trail Is Open
Now that the Iron Mountain Trail is finished, there is concern and questions about where to access the trail and where to park. For hikers, runners and mountain bikers without cars, you can just go up Pawnee Avenue [ past the Manitou Library and the Manitou Springs Elementary School, jog right at T] to the trail head on the left. It is about 1/2 mile from downtown Manitou to the trail head on Pawnee Ave. It is about one mile from the trail head to the top of the mountain. So it is a great 3 mile round trip. Bring water and appropriate clothing.
The Iron Mountain Trail was built over the spring and summer 2014 by Manitou Cats, regional trail building groups and Tony Boone mechanical trailing. We are donated over 350 days of volunteer work saving Manitou Springs over $38,000. (Thank you volunteers) Tony worked with his machines over 14 days.
We wish to thank the Manitou businesses , who supported the trail building. Stagecoach Inn, Swirl Wine Emporium, Townhouse Tavern and Savilli ‘s Pizza, the American Legion and the Manitou Brewing Company have each hosted an after work party with a free beer/beverage for our thirsty volunteers.
They have started giving parking tickets
If you park at the little paved pull out at the Intemann Trail Pawnee trailhead, you may get a ticket. So park some place legal lower on Pawnee Ave. and walk the rest of the way to the trail. For people using the Intemann Trail, you can park and start journeying from either Ruxton Avenue, Crystal Park Road or the Section 16 Trail Head on Gold Camp Road.
Collaboration Of
Volunteer And Mechanical Construction
Thanks to generous donations of the Medicine Wheel Trail Advocates, the Friends Of The Peak and Manitou Springs City Council , Tony Boon, one of the premier trail builders in the USA, got did 14 mechanical trail construction days on Iron Mountain. What we learned was that the higher eastern part of the Iron Mountain Trail is on a hillside that is too steep and rocky to have volunteers using picks and shovels to build it. Read More>>
Contact us at: manitoucats@gmail.com or 719-321-5354
