Thousands of homes and businesses could one day border Jimmy Camp Creek Park and Corral Bluffs Open Space, areas rich in fossils and archaeological history, that parks advocates want to see opened to the public and also protected long-term.

The rugged, windswept badlands of Corral Bluffs Open Space east of U.S. 24 and Marksheffel Road on the eastern edge of Colorado Springs is the site of unprecedented fossil discoveries that have helped researchers understand the rise of mammals and plant life that thrived in a prehistoric tropical rain forest following the mass extinction of the dinosaurs.

Scientists expect the work at Corral Bluffs to continue indefinitely because of the broad interest in the time period represented, one that bridges the end of the dinosaurs and the rise of mammals, said Tyler Lyson, associate curator of vertebrate paleontology with the Denver Museum of Nature and Science. So far, the museum has collected hundreds of vertebrate and thousands of plant fossils from the property.

“As long as there are exposed rocks that are allowed to erode new fossils will continue to emerge out of the bluffs,” Lyson said.

At Jimmy Camp Creek Park, a nearby 700-acre area, scientists have found fewer fossils — four vertebrate fossils and hundreds of fossilized leaves — because it has less exposed rock, he said. The area is also rich with human artifacts because it has several critical natural springs that supported native tribes. The city is surveying the archaeological sites this year.

While much of the property slated for development is short grass prairie, the park is also set apart by a striking ridge of thriving evergreens that overlook the creek.

The city has long envisioned the two areas as one united space that could be managed together and it has been steadily purchasing parcels to make that vision possible. The city is within 352 yards of uniting the properties at the closest point, said Parks, Design and Development Manager Britt Haley.

However, some parks advocates think that Corral Bluffs might be better protected with a national monument designation similar to the Florissant Fossil Beds or Dinosaur national monuments, both sites that provide extensive visitor education.

Providing a similar experience with the city’s limited parks budget would be tough, some parks advocates say.

“You would drain the parks department budget, you wouldn’t do a single other thing,” said Cory Sutela, executive director of Medicine Wheel Trail Advocates.

Former City Councilman Richard Skorman said he floated the idea of a national monument designation or other outside management help, such as a partnership with a university to city administration and found some interest.

“Everybody seems to think its worth pursuing, at least seeing what it means,” said Skorman, who left his council seat at the end of December.

Others said that local control of the property should be maintained, stating that federally run parks have suffered from mismanagement.

The pending development of Banning Lewis Ranch around Jimmy Camp Creek and west of Corral Bluffs could pose additional management challenges as thousands of new residents and businesses move to the area.

Norwood Development Group – a Colorado Springs real estate giant – said in a statement its plans for its 18,000 acre portion of Banning Lewis Ranch, an area that represents 85% of the growth capacity in the region, have been two years in the making and have involved world-renowned planners, engineers, landscape architects, biologists, archaeologists and others.

“We recognize that Jimmy Camp Creek Park is an asset to the entire community and we are committed to thoughtful development adjacent to the area,” said Tim Seibert, senior vice president of Norwood.

Norwood is planning to set aside significant open space south of the park that will preserve the creek valley and a ridge to the southwest. The open space designation would unite the park with Corral Bluffs and allow for an integrated trail system, Seibert said. The southern boundary of the city’s parkland follows the creek bed.

The city’s portion of Jimmy Camp Creek and Norwood’s planned open space will be larger than Garden of the Gods, Stratton and Ute Valley open spaces. The area could serve as a new playground for cyclists and hikers as the city marches east. Norwood estimates 165,000 to 170,000 residents could move into its portion of Banning Lewis, Seibert said.

Banning Lewis Ranch makes up the eastern one-third of Colorado Springs.

“We want people to experience their garage as their trailhead,” he said.

Norwood is also planning for significant commercial development across the area so that many of the people who live in the new neighborhoods can work in the same area, which can help manage traffic growth, he said.

Development plans show a road and homes planned for an area where the city is close to connecting Jimmy Camp Creek to Corral Bluffs. However, the city is not concerned about it, Haley said.

“The Parks Department anticipates that Norwood will work with the Parks Department and the community to produce the best connections for our city,” she said, in an email.

As Banning Lewis Ranch develops, parks advocates also worry so many new neighbors and businesses will change the ecosystem and watershed, and hurt the precious fossil record. They want to see access well managed to avoid damage to the area.

Corral Bluffs Alliance President Jax Hilaire guides hikes through the otherwise closed property and wants to ensure the property is managed in a way that protects discoveries yet to be made in the area. Researchers are still regularly identifying previously unknown ancient plants, she said. Proper trail alignments that avoid sensitive areas and erodible soils will be key and developing those will take several studies.

“I hope it can be shared more broadly. We need all of those inputs, and we don’t have them right now,” she said.

Hilaire said she would prefer the city to make those decisions because federal authorities have mismanaged other precious resources, including Mesa Verde National Park.

She would also like to see additional protections for the Jimmy Camp Creek property through the city that fall in line with other more recently acquired properties. Ideally it could be part of a connected wildlife corridor through the eastern developing portion of the city that would allow deer and other species to move more freely. She expects the development will disturb the prong horn herd, Golden eagles and other species that may be displaced.

The park was designated to the city when Banning Lewis Ranch was annexed and was not included in the recent Protect our Parks initiative passed in 2020 that requires the city to hold an election to approve the sale, swap or conveyance of many parks, an omission that has some advocates concerned.

“What I would like to see is a plan for the park, so I can be convinced it will move forward as a park/open space,” said Linda Hodges, a parks advocate.

The city is working on an archaeological survey of Jimmy Camp Creek park this year in preparation for opening the area. It is unknown how long the survey may take, Haley said.

“Parks would desire to celebrate the rich archaeology found at this location, allow it to be an educational resource and to avoid inadvertent destruction or harm to existing sites or artifacts,” she said.

For Bill Koerner, with the Corral Bluffs Alliance, the vision for Jimmy Camp Creek and Corral Bluffs needs to embrace the extraordinary research value of the area. A national monument designation could help do that and drive tourism to the area as well.

“You got to have a bigger vision,” he said.

For now, the guided hikes through Corral Bluffs have been working well to allow access and mitigate impact on the fossils, Lyson said. He noted fossils found on private or government property legally must remain in place unless specific permission from the land owner is granted to remove it.

Museum researchers have been working intensely in the area for seven years and have a good idea of the paleontological resources in the park and open space. The museum would like that data to inform land management decisions, he said.