Manitou Springs Trail CATS and Other Community Projects 
This year Manitou CATS we will be working with Manitou Springs, El Paso County and Colorado Springs. As usual we will be maintaining the Intemann Trail (including the Iron Mountain Trail) and the Ute Indian Trail. This year once again we will be installing rock and wood steps as we rebuild a trail in the Bear Creek Nature Center. This website’s also host articles, announcements and sign ups for other Manitou volunteer community projects.(see menu above)
How You Can Participate In Our Volunteer Trail Days
Generally our workdays will be the second Sunday of the month. Workdays will start in May. We will meet at 7:55 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 2016 are May 8, June 12, July 10, August 14 , September 11 , October 9. 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 and crew leaders to bring. However, you may also just show up on the day.
PS: Remember to bring: gloves, working shoes, liter of water, sun screen, clothing layers and whatever you need for a day 
outdoors in Colorado. Open to 16 years and up. [Children 13 to 15 can come with a parent.]
See dates and volunteer registration links to the right.
Who is (What is) Manitou Springs Trail Cats
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 (Collection of Addicted 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 (or close to Manitou) trails and public land. We are focused on creating enjoyable, safe and worthwhile outdoor stewardship projects for volunteers.
Collaboration Of Volunteer And Mechanical Construction
Manitou Cats works on trails which are close to our urban centers and our homes. Many 100s of thousands of runners, bikers, hikers and wanderer use our open spaces every years. The trails we build and maintain must be strong to support such over use, but we love that city folk and kids get out into nature and the outdoors. It is one of the most important ways to keep our society mentally and physically healthy. Trails are also the best way to protect our natural environment. By keeping people on beautiful paths instead of walking everywhere, wild animals and fragile plant life can be protected. Our natural habitat can be preserved.
Often it is better to build strong wide trails by machines rather than volunteer labor. They build stronger trails in less time but they are expensive. Volunteer hand built trails are less expensive but there is only limited volunteers available. Volunteers can go in to fix trails and habitat that can not be reached by trail machines, without destroying the plant life close to the trails. Volunteers can also do the finish work on mechanically built trails. Without volunteers, our government land owners can not adequate steward the land in our open spaces. So Keeping our trails in good shape is a collaboration between the volunteers, the mechanical trail-builders, and the tax payers who pay for it all. Read More>>
Contact us at: manitoucats@gmail.com or 719-321-5354
