Colorado Springs’ Cheyenne Mountain State Park is another step closer toward a major expansion. 

That’s after a legislative committee recently approved Colorado Parks and Wildlife proceeding on an $8.9 million deal for 357 acres around the state park’s entrance off Colorado 115. The acquisition would be through state lottery funds allocated to CPW, a news release indicated. 

“Cheyenne Mountain State Park welcomes significant visitation, but we still hear from first-time visitors who say they didn’t realize the park was even here,” park Manager Jason Hagan explained in the release. With the acquisition, a sign off the highway could announce what’s been referred to as “the park’s ‘front door.'” 

The news release also alluded to “the ecological value of the land at the park’s entrance,” said to be home to bears, mule deer, prairie dogs, raptors and more: “Once under park management, Colorado Parks and Wildlife will be able to protect habitat while planning future use aligned with the park’s primary recreational activities, including hiking and mountain biking.”

The recent approval by the General Assembly’s Capital Development Committee followed the Colorado Springs City Council approving a $4.1 million purchase of an adjacent parcel just shy of 126 acres. That land rises toward the road entering Cheyenne Mountain Space Force Station. 

The base’s leadership along with that at nearby Fort Carson have backed the deal in letters to the City Council. The letters expressed support for a “buffer” between military operations; the acreage has been eyed for 95 homes under the JL Ranch master plan, the city’s Trails, Open Space and Parks (TOPS) Manager Lonna Thelen has noted in past presentations.

In helping to fund Cheyenne Mountain State Park’s expansion with TOPS sales tax collections, “This allows the city to use our strength in acquisition as well as CPW to use their strength in enforcement and management,” Thelen previously told the City Council. 

About 60% of the state park is owned by the city through “a partnership that has shaped the park since its inception,” as CPW’s recent news release put it. The creation of the park in 2000 was an early priority of the TOPS fund that had been established a few years earlier. 

CPW Southeast Region Manager Frank McGee referred to that timeframe in calling the expansion around the entrance “more than two decades in the making.” He added: “Cheyenne Mountain State Park represents the protection of one of the most important open spaces along the southern Front Range, and this expansion reflects a long-standing partnership with the city of Colorado Springs and other partners working together to protect this landscape.”

Totaling about 483 acres, the two parcels would grow the park to approximately 3,184 acres. Around the upper parcel to be purchased with TOPS funds, city officials foresee a key segment of the Chamberlain Trail, the long-dreamed trail touring the foothills between Blodgett Peak and Cheyenne Mountain. 

The segment would require an authorized crossing at NORAD Road, Thelen has said. She has said more talks would regard an updated memorandum of understanding between the city and CPW, guiding future recreation development and management. Advocates have said they hope those talks also involve city-funded expansions to the south of the park, around Rock Creek — an area awaiting access since 2019, when TOPS spent $1.3 million on 163 acres.

The Trust for Public Land is guiding this latest expansion. For expediency, the organization has offered to buy the two parcels and sell back to CPW and the city — possibly in early 2026, city officials have said.