The Watershed Access Advisory Group was organized by Colorado Springs Utilities in 2007 to develop a policy to control access to the watershed on the south slope of Pikes Peak. This group of volunteers, including 2 members of FOTP, assisted in the development of a plan for opening the area to the public for recreational use. The recreational uses of South Slope are managed by Colorado Springs Parks, Recreation, and Cultural Services department. Their web page has more information, as does CS Utilities. South Slope requires registration beforehand and a fee. CS Parks and Rec has information and a link to the reservation page.
South Slope has a trail along McReynolds Reservoir and a trail to Mason Reservoir that continues on to Boehmer Reservoir. Friends of the Peak started building the trail along McReynolds Reservoir in 2010, with two projects, continued work on it in 2011, holding three projects around McReynolds that year, and completing the trail with one more project in 2012. Friends of the Peak also worked with Volunteers for Outdoor Colorado (VOC) to start the trail to Mason Reservoir, holding a joint project in 2011. Work continued on the trail to Mason in 2012, with one FOTP project and another joint project. That completed the portion of the trail to Mason Reservoir. FOTP had one project on the trail to Mason in 2013 to improve and widen several sections of the trail. The trail continues on to Boehmer Reservoir. Colorado Springs Parks and Rec contracted to have that section completed. In 2014, FOTP returned to South Slope with 3 project days to prepare the trails, which had set unused, for visitors. South Slope officially opened for its first public visitors on October 4, 2014. Access to South Slope requires registration.
Want to check out the trails? Use Google Earth to tour the area! Just use this link to download the GPX file, then open it in Earth or your favorite GPS track viewer. A screen shot of the Google Maps topo is here. View the same map on Google Maps here.
