Foothills Trail reopens after city clears ‘flood plain’ of sediment

The Foothills Trail, which had to be closed after the big rains of early September, reopened about two weeks ago. A northbound cyclist and a hiker approach 30th Street along the recently reopened Foothills Trail near the boundary between the Garden of the Gods and the privately owned Navigators property. A short distance north of here, the trail goes under 30th Street and into the Blair Bridge Park east of 30th. Some of the "flood plain" effect from Camp Creek's September flooding can be seen in the background at right. Westside Pioneer photo        Kurt Schroeder, head of maintenance for Colorado Springs Parks, said that about 200 feet in the Garden of the Gods near Glen Eyrie was covered with a “flood plain” of 18 to 24 inches of sediment when adjacent Camp Creek flooded.        “We had to go in, scoop it off with a backhoe and haul it off,” Schroeder said, estimating that the total amount was equal to about 10 fully loaded dump trucks. Crews also swept the concrete trail “so no one could slip on the gravel,” he said.        Only a few feet of the trail got undermined by the flooding, and this part was recompacted, he added.        The Foothills Trail is a city multiuse trail whose 6˝ miles include passage through Rock Ledge Ranch - with a non-concrete surface in that portion for historically correct reasons - and the Garden of the Gods. Westside Pioneer article