Your Voice Matters for the 2026 Colorado Springs Parks Master Plan!
Colorado Springs Parks department has launched their 2026 Park System Master Plan, and they want to hear from YOU! This crucial plan will guide the future of our city’s parks, trails, open spaces, and recreational amenities for the next 10-15 years. This new plan will replace the 2014 Parks Master Plan, making your input vital in shaping the future of our beloved outdoor spaces.
Bike Colorado Springs believes this master plan provides a critical opportunity to identify our city’s urban trail network as a vital piece of our city’s transportation infrastructure. We advocate for our urban trails to have the same standards of connectivity, signage, redundancy, and maintenance as other transportation networks.
Map from 2014 parks master plan – Link to PDF Here
Share Your Input!
Here’s how you can participate and help shape the future of our parks and trails:
1. Take the Online Survey & Use the Interactive Map! The official survey for the 2026 Park System Master Plan is LIVE NOW! This is your direct opportunity to share your ideas, priorities, and vision for our parks and recreation. Additionally, there’s an interactive map where you can pinpoint specific concerns or highlight areas you love within our park system.
2. Attend a Community Meeting: Join an in-person or virtual session to provide feedback directly to the planning team.
- In-Person Meetings:
- Tuesday, June 24 | 5:30 p.m. – 7:00 p.m. | Briargate YMCA (4025 Family Pl)
- Wednesday, June 25 | 5:30 p.m. – 7:00 p.m. | Southeast Armed Services YMCA (2190 Jet Wing Dr)
- Virtual Session:
- Wednesday, July 9 | 6:00 p.m. – 7:00 p.m.
- Registration required: Official registration link
3. Look for Pop-Up Opportunities! Can’t make the scheduled meetings? The Parks Department will also be hosting Pop-Up opportunities to provide feedback at various already scheduled events and festivals around Colorado Springs. Keep an eye out for their booth at your favorite community gatherings!
What to Advocate For:
When you participate, consider asking for:
- Enhanced Urban Trail Connectivity: Advocate for more seamless and comprehensive connections within our urban trail network.
- Integrated Network Connectivity: Push for clear and safe connections that link our urban trails directly to our on-street bicycle lanes and sidewalk networks, creating a truly unified active transportation system.
- Improved Wayfinding and Signage: Request consistent, intuitive, and highly visible signage that guides users not only along trails but also smoothly transitions them to and from the on-street bicycle and sidewalk networks.
- Redundancy for Reliability: Highlight the need for multiple safe and accessible routes to common destinations, providing alternatives in case of closures or maintenance on any part of the network – See USAFA Trail Closure
- High Maintenance Standards: The Parks Department already does a great job maintaining many of our parks and trails. Let’s make sure we continue this excellent work and extend these high standards to all components of our active transportation network – urban trails, bike lanes, and sidewalks – ensuring they are safe, smooth, and accessible for all users year-round.
Bike Colorado Springs is Advocating for You!
We’re actively pushing for broader engagement in this process. Bike Colorado Springs has urged the City to hold more centrally located in-person meetings, as face-to-face dialogue is invaluable, especially for central and westside neighborhoods. We’ve also formally requested a seat on the Master Plan Steering Committee to ensure urban trails are fully recognized as a critical non-motorized transportation network. Our goal is to align this plan with other key city initiatives like ConnectCOS and COSbikes, leveraging our expertise in active transportation planning and community engagement.
Let’s work together to ensure Colorado Springs’ parks, recreational facilities, and vital urban trails continue to be outstanding for all residents and visitors. Share this post to encourage others to participate!
