At the edge of Colorado Springs’ north-side mountains, David Deitemeyer steps across a creek where a bridge is to be built.

The bridge will cross from a parking lot here beneath Pikeview Quarry, the historic scar turning green from reclamation. Deitemeyer represents the city’s Parks Department, which back in 2020 made a deal for the old mining company’s base here beside the creek. On the other side a trail is under construction, weaving the hills toward Blodgett Peak.

The trail could open in the fall, Deitemeyer says, along with the parking lot and bridge that he foresees lending a certain effect.

“It really creates this gateway effect,” he says.

A gateway to a long-dreamed adventure.

Crews this summer have been building the latest stretch of Chamberlain Trail — the northernmost stretch of a trail imagined to tour the length of Colorado Springs’ skyline, from Blodgett Peak to Cheyenne Mountain.

Construction here around Blodgett is the next development in a series of recent, pivotal developments for the vision spanning decades.

In June, the City Council approved a master plan for Fishers Canyon Open Space. That plan blueprints Chamberlain Trail’s southernmost connection to Cheyenne Mountain, adjacent to the open space the city acquired in 2022. Trail construction could start in Fishers Canyon next year, says Deitemeyer, senior administrator for the city’s Trails, Open Space and Parks program.

New trails mark milestone for open space north of Colorado Springs

He oversaw that master plan for what will be the city’s next outdoor destination, following a master plan for a beloved, expanded destination. The plan for an expanded Blodgett Open Space was previously approved, clearing the way for this northern Chamberlain Trail.

“Fishers Canyon unlocks a really important part, and Blodgett unlocks a really important part,” says Cory Sutela, who has long advocated for the trail as executive director of mountain biking nonprofit Medicine Wheel.

There are yet more important parts to be realized. But Chamberlain’s portals opening on either end should excite this city’s “ultra users,” Sutela says.

“Which we have many that live here, those that are kind of like, ‘What kind of goofy thing could I connect together?’” he says. “It’s that spirit of adventure and discovery that draws a lot of residents to our city.”

And visitors as well, Sutela notes.

Chamberlain “will be of really high interest to visitors,” he says. “It’ll get on that tick list. If you visit Colorado Springs, ‘Oh, did you do the Chamberlain Trail? Did you do it north to south or south to north?’ It’s not quite Ring the Peak, but it’s a major connection that’s going to be very iconic.”

Not quite Ring the Peak, that much longer trail envisioned to encircle Pikes Peak. Chamberlain could span about 32 miles, according to Deitemeyer’s estimates.

Counting dirt trail already built and the trails coming to Blodgett and Fishers Canyon along with current connections via roadways, commuter paths and easements granted, he maps an existing corridor spanning 21 miles.

Along the under-construction Chamberlain Trail at Blodgett, he points south to a ridge and “a significant gap” of private lands beyond, toward Garden of the Gods. Though, he says, one could chart a course incorporating the paved Foothills Trail and roadways through Garden of the Gods and on to Red Rock Canyon Open Space, where Chamberlain Trail has been added in recent years, joining segments farther south around Bear Creek Park and North Cheyenne Cañon Park.

From Blodgett’s new trail, one could follow Chamberlain’s roughly imagined corridor all the way south to Old Stage Road — but only by incorporating that pavement immediately south of Blodgett. “It’s a different character, it’s a different experience,” Deitemeyer says. “Our long-term goal is to try to provide the experience in the foothills.”

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The goal has always been long-term. But for a man credited with Chamberlain Trail’s early development, the goal appears ever closer in view.

“It’s cool to see the various pieces coming together,” Chris Lieber says.

He intimately remembers some of the first pieces, having led the city’s Trails, Open Space and Parks (TOPS) program from 1997-2016.

Voters had approved TOPS in 1997, setting aside sales tax revenues to purchase open spaces that Lieber saw established over the years. Those included Blodgett and Red Rock Canyon open spaces — purchased in 2001 and 2003, respectively — not to mention the state park TOPS helped open in 2006: Cheyenne Mountain State Park.

The dream of Chamberlain Trail grew as an open space system grew, Lieber says. “All these puzzle pieces had to fall into place.”

It’s no coincidence the trail’s first formal segments were born out of TOPS’ first signature purchase in 1998: Stratton Open Space, bordering North Cheyenne Cañon.

“Originally, (Chamberlain) was largely focused in and around where the namesake comes from, in that Cheyenne Cañon and Stratton Open Space area,” Lieber says.

The namesake has been for Fred Chamberlain. Starting in 1937, he donated significant acreage adding to North Cheyenne Cañon Park, according to an account by local historian Eric Swab.

The account also details the rugged whereabouts of Fred’s brother, Frank. “It seems appropriate the Chamberlain trail be named after both Frank and Fred,” Swab wrote, considering Frank’s evident interest in trail building.

Yes, the interest long predated Lieber. Long before him in the ’90s and throughout his leadership, the Parks Department was focused on expanding the Pikes Peak Greenway as we know it now — the urban path spanning the city north and south. For the next century, TOPS unlocked millions of dollars to unlock possibilities across the western wilds running north and south.

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For a foothills-touring trail going from a dream to a possibility, the recently retired executive director of the Trails and Open Space Coalition, Susan Davies, thanks Lieber and her predecessor, Dan Cleveland, who led from 1994-2009.

“Between the two of them, they said, ‘Oh, my gosh, this is going to be the mountain version of the greenway, and it’s going to be amazing,’” Davies says.

Like the Pikes Peak Greenway and the urban trail network, “it was this concept of, ‘What if everybody’s front door was their trailhead?’” Lieber says. “To be able to go from Stratton to Red Rock Canyon, or North Cheyenne Cañon down to Cheyenne Mountain State Park — I think people are hungry for those kinds of opportunities.”

As Deitemeyer recognized upon joining the Parks Department in 2012. More ground had been laid by then, the likes of Stratton, Red Rock Canyon and Cheyenne Mountain presenting a canvas.

“But it’s still a challenge to figure it all out,” Deitemeyer says.

For example: an easement for running the trail behind the Cheyenne Mountain Zoo and other approvals needed for a road crossing eyed near Cheyenne Mountain Space Force Station. And then there’s that “significant gap” Deitemeyer points to between Blodgett and Garden of the Gods.

Adjacent to the Garden, “we want to figure out a better way to get through Flying W Ranch,” Sutela says. “For it to be really good north to south, we’ve got to get some good singletrack through there.”

These are sensitive discussions, Deitemeyer emphasizes. “We have the vision, but sometimes there are private property owners or entities that just aren’t ready to work with us, and we understand and respect that. It may take time, and they may never play out, and we have to find alternatives.”

In conclusion, Sutela says: “It’s one of those things where you gotta keep biting the apple.”

This represents a big bite, this northernmost trail under construction.

Hiking now, Deitemeyer reaches a crest where Blodgett Peak emerges into view and Cheyenne Mountain looms to the south — seemingly not so distant, Deitemeyer observes with a smile.

“It looks simple enough to get right there,” he says.

Happy Trails: Looping a peaceful valley between the bustle of Colorado Springs