Cheyenne Mountain State Park is a Colorado state park that was acquired in June 2000 through a partnership between the City of

Colorado Springs Colorado Springs is a home rule municipality in, and the county seat of, El Paso County, Colorado, United States. It is the largest city in El Paso County, with a population of 478,961 at the 2020 United States Census, a 15.02% increase since ...

, Colorado State Parks, Great Outdoors Colorado (GOCO), Colorado Lottery, El Paso County, and other local private organizations.

History

In 1917, 800 acres on Cheyenne Mountain was homesteaded by Bert Swisher and Thomas Dixon, both of whom applied for the homestead that year. The actual grants for the property, now part of the Cheyenne State Park, were granted to Bert Swisher and Thomas Dixon between 1922 and 1926. Dixon resided with his family in a cabin near the top of the mountain in the middle of three valleys. Swisher's cabin was near the present site of the antenna farm at the top of the mountain, which was accessed by Old Stage Road. The Dixon property was purchased by Swisher's grandchildren in 1988 through the Cheyenne Mountain Reserve, LLC. Formerly the JL Ranch, the park is situated just south of Colorado Springs and represents the protection of one of the last significant open spaces along the southern section of the Colorado Front Range. The park lies beneath the eastern flank of

Cheyenne Mountain Cheyenne Mountain is a triple-peaked mountain in El Paso County, Colorado, southwest of downtown Colorado Springs. The mountain serves as a host for military, communications, recreational, and residential functions. The underground operations cen ...

, and borders the plains of Colorado in a stunning transition from plains to peaks. The land is in remarkable natural condition, and wildlife is abundant as well as diverse due to the property's relatively undisturbed and unfragmented nature. Wildlife in the park includes

deer Deer or true deer are hoofed ruminant mammals forming the family Cervidae. The two main groups of deer are the Cervinae, including the muntjac, the elk (wapiti), the red deer, and the fallow deer; and the Capreolinae, including the re ...

, elk, black bears, cougar, coyotes,

fox Foxes are small to medium-sized, omnivorous mammals belonging to several genera of the family Canidae. They have a flattened skull, upright, triangular ears, a pointed, slightly upturned snout, and a long bushy tail (or ''brush''). Twelve sp ...

es, prairie dogs,

red-tailed hawk The red-tailed hawk (''Buteo jamaicensis'') is a bird of prey that breeds throughout most of North America, from the interior of Alaska and northern Canada to as far south as Panama and the West Indies. It is one of the most common members wit ...

golden eagle The golden eagle (''Aquila chrysaetos'') is a bird of prey living in the Northern Hemisphere. It is the most widely distributed species of eagle. Like all eagles, it belongs to the family Accipitridae. They are one of the best-known birds of ...

s and

wild turkey The wild turkey (''Meleagris gallopavo'') is an upland ground bird native to North America, one of two extant species of turkey and the heaviest member of the order Galliformes. It is the ancestor to the domestic turkey, which was originally d ...

s. The park opened in October 2006 and is the only state park located in El Paso County. There are of trails throughout the park which are open to hikers and bikers. Dogs and horses are not permitted on the trails in order to keep the surrounding ecosystems intact and to avoid disturbing the ground-nesting birds that reside in the park. Cheyenne Mountain also has day-use picnic sites and a visitor center where educational displays and interpretive programs are available for visitors. Evening programs and nature hikes are available during the spring and summer months and periodically during the fall and winter months. The park is open for day use, camping with full hookup and walk-in camping sites, and a camper services building.

History

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Further reading