The Greenland Ranch Open Space system is a huge collection of properties along the I-25 corridor between Castle Rock and Colorado Springs. Basically, it will provide a natural area surrounding the Interstate from Larkspur to Monument Hill. The Douglas County portion is about 21,000 acres on both sides of the highway and is made up of about a half dozen parcels pieced together. An additional 1,000 acres in a subdivision just west of I-25 will protect the viewshed to the top of the hill visible from the highway. To the east of I-25 near the rest area, The Nature Conservancy has a property with one of the largest elk herd in the region. The Douglas County park portion cost about 20 million dollars in a split between county and GOCO (Colorado Lottery) funds. Preserving this area means that there will always remain a portion of the frontrange grasslands between Colorado Springs and Denver.
Much of the land has been preserved under conservation easements that allow the area east of I-25 to remain a working ranch. The section west of I-25 has just been opened to the public. To find the trailhead, take I-25 to exit 167. Go west about a quarter mile and follow the road south to the huge gate. A large parking complex has been built and the picnic building is well setup to handle horses. The trail heads out from the parking lot for about ¾ of a mile before beginning a nice loop through one of the prettiest ranch lands in the area. Total distance from the parking lot and around the loop is 8.2 miles. The trail is about 4 ft wide in most areas. Heading out the south end will be a connection to Palmer Lake and the New Sante Fe trail system. The trail is a prairie walk without a lot of shade. So doing it early or late in the day is probably the best bet.
The area has lots of prairie wildlife. While we were there, we saw several hawks diving for lunch along with a collection of deer. There are also lots of fragilis cacti intermixed throughout the grasslands. This is actually among the higher elevations that I can think of in the area with large amounts of cacti and is somewhat unique because it is not a real arid area. Much of the hike is right next to the railroad line. This is a busy coal route from mines in Wyoming heading towards power plants in Texas. While the area looks like a big meadow, it is now the steepest mainline railroading in the country. At just over 2 percent, it is a little steeper than Donner Summit in California.
We just happened to hit the opening celebrations that featured a burrow race around the loop with the fastest runner/burrow teams coming in around one hour. There was also a good band and lots of folks around to answer questions. Everyone involved looked quite please and I must agree this a wonderful park. I highly recommend stopping for an hour to even half a day and enjoying the area.
Links to a quick slide show are provided below. The first is a quick tour suitable for slow connection speeds. The second is a PDF file with more detailed images, but will take a couple minutes to download.
Scot Hume