Cascade and Chipita Park have never had a sidewalk. That's about to change. El Paso County's newest stretch of the Ute Pass Regional Trail is 1.67 miles of new path from the US 24 and Fountain Avenue intersection to Winnemucca Road at the Teller County line. The county's project page, current as of September 30, 2026, reported it about 88% complete as of September, with a December 2026 end date. The segment was planned as a walkable spine for everyday trips along Chipita Park Road. It also connects to the trail system climbing toward Green Mountain Falls well before it will ever connect down to Manitou Springs.
Where the concrete runs
The Gazette reported in February that the segment would start at a new trailhead off Spring Street in Cascade, near the stoplight at US 24 and Fountain Avenue. From there it follows Chipita Park Road toward Ute Pass Elementary and the existing trail connections toward Green Mountain Falls and the Teller County line. The county's construction notice lists the work along Chipita Park Road, Fountain Avenue and Spring Street. From the bottom of the route to the top, these are the landmarks along it:
- The trailhead at US 24 and Fountain Avenue. SpringsMag places it near The Wines of Colorado and the Pikes Peak Highway. A $400,000 grant through Pikes Peak Outdoors covers an official trailhead plus a portal for the Ring the Peak Trail.
- Cascade Post Office, 8006 Ute Pass Ave. USPS lists retail hours of 8 a.m. to 1 p.m. and 2 to 4:30 p.m. on weekdays and 9 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. on Saturdays. It's closed Sundays.
- Marcroft Hall, 9105 Chipita Park Road. The nonprofit Chipita Park Association owns and runs the hall, and community social and educational activities are part of the association's stated purpose.
- Ute Pass Elementary, 9230 Chipita Park Road.
- Winnemucca Road. Here the new path meets the existing Teller County trail.
The route runs past a post office, a community hall and a school. Jason Meyer has managed the Ute Pass Trail for El Paso County Parks since 2009, and he describes the project the same way: as a way to connect those places.
Built for errands as much as bike rides
Meyer told The Gazette that in an area without sidewalks, the Ute Pass Trail "works double duty."
"It's the local access, connecting neighborhoods, connecting businesses," he said. "Folks no longer have to walk or ride on the shoulder of Chipeta Park Road; they'll have a sidewalk."
In September he gave SpringsMag a fuller list. The trail connects the neighborhoods along Chipita Park Road and Fountain Avenue "with the only on-street sidewalk in these communities." It provides ADA access and links Ute Pass Elementary to the community hubs, the post office and local businesses. He also said the project included widening Chipita Park Road for better emergency access, plus drainage improvements. "It's more than just providing a trail," he said.
The surface tells the same story. The Gazette described the segment as concrete, and SpringsMag called it paved and gravel. Either way, it's a hard, graded path meant to carry everyday trips. The Gazette put the project's cost at $3 million. It's the first project built from a list prepared by the nonprofit Pikes Peak Outdoor Recreation Alliance, and it follows a $2.5 million Great Outdoors Colorado grant for recreation and conservation projects around the region.
The trail is already partly in use. "We've heard from the community; they're already using sections of it," Meyer told SpringsMag. He said the project had "been running smoothly," was on schedule for December completion, and should be open to everyone this fall. The county's project listing shows no road closures and no detour for the work.
The trail reaches Teller County before it reaches Manitou
The Ute Pass Trail's other end starts in Manitou Springs beside the Manitou Incline. The Gazette reported that a dirt trail runs about 3 miles from there to a gap before Cascade. The planned trail is 11 miles in all, and the Cascade gap is the last unbuilt piece.
The two reports give slightly different figures for that gap. The Gazette put it at 1.75 miles, between Colorado Springs Utilities property and the new Cascade trailhead. SpringsMag put it at 1.5 miles and called it the most difficult section. Meyer explained why:
"We are going to be within CDOT right of way. We are going to be crossing Fountain Creek, and we're going to be building on Colorado Springs Utilities watershed property. So we have some very large stakeholders that need to be engaged with us and aligned on timing and funding."
SpringsMag reported that this final section is on hold while El Paso County works on other priorities in its regional park system. So once the Cascade segment is finished this winter, the trail will run from the Cascade corner up past the school and into Teller County, toward Green Mountain Falls. Heading down-canyon, the gap between the Cascade trailhead and the dirt trail from Manitou will remain. Meyer pictured that uphill trip in the Gazette: "You don't have to drive between Cascade and Green Mountain Falls. You can, on a nice summer day, take your bike and go for a ride."
The trailhead corner is on winter hours now
The new trailhead is at the same corner as the turnoff to the Pikes Peak Highway, so its first months will overlap with the highway's off-season. According to the 2026 rate sheet from Pikes Peak – America's Mountain, shorter hours started October 1 and run through the Thursday before Memorial Day, and the highway price drops on December 1. The highway is open year-round only when weather and road conditions allow.
| Pikes Peak Highway, 2026 | Through November 30 | From December 1 |
|---|---|---|
| Uphill gates open | 9:00 a.m. | 9:00 a.m. |
| Last entry | 3:00 p.m. | 3:00 p.m. |
| Adult, 16 and over | $18 | $10 |
| Child, 6 to 15 | $8 | $5 |
| Carload, up to five | $65 | $35 |
The summit closes at 4 p.m. and the downhill gate at 5 p.m. on this schedule. The official hours page lists Thanksgiving Day and Christmas Day as closure days. If you drive the highway more than a couple of times a year, Drive Pikes Peak sells annual passes:
- Unlimited carload: $240
- Five-trip carload: $165
- Unlimited individual: $130
- 14er pass, good for up to 14 uses: $130
- All-access passes that add the seasonal North Slope Recreation Area: $180 individual or $325 carload
At December's $35 carload rate, the five-trip pass costs a little less than five single carload trips would. At November's $65 rate, it costs about as much as three trips.
Two dates further up Chipita Park Road
Marcroft Hall is the next landmark up the trail, and its biggest public weekend comes before the trail is finished. The Chipita Park Association's 22nd annual Arts & Crafts Fair runs Saturday, November 7, from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m., and Sunday, November 8, from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. The association says the hall is available for rentals from late May through early December.
Marcroft Hall also hosted the May 11 meeting about the area's other December project. There, Pikes Peak Library District CEO Teona Schainidze-Krebs told about 50 patrons that the Ute Pass Library in Cascade would move to a hybrid model, The Gazette reported. Under the plan, the branch would be open 6 a.m. to 10 p.m. seven days a week for collections, computers, printers and hold pickup, with entry by badge. The district's hybrid access page still lists Ute Pass for December. To get a badge, a patron must be at least 18, hold a 400-level PPLD card that has been active for at least 90 days, and be in good standing. The Ute Pass training module is marked "coming soon."
The library's December date is less certain than the trail's. PPLD's September 16, 2026, board packet says the facilities and security requirements for Ute Pass had been identified. It adds that this information will support the financial planning and funding applications needed to complete the remodeling the hybrid library requires. For now, the branch page lists staffed hours of 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. and 2 to 6 p.m. on Mondays and Thursdays, and 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. and 2 to 5 p.m. on Fridays and Saturdays. The branch is closed Tuesday, Wednesday and Sunday.
Of the December projects on this stretch of Ute Pass, the trail is the furthest along. The county listed it at 88% complete as of September, and Meyer told SpringsMag that sections are already in use and the work is on schedule. The library's badge system still depends on remodeling funds, and the trail connection down to Manitou is on hold with no date.
If you own a home along Chipita Park Road or Fountain Avenue, a finished sidewalk to the post office, Marcroft Hall and the school changes how your property fits into the neighborhood. High Country Realty follows projects like this one closely because they shape what homes along the corridor are worth. If you'd like to see what the new trail means for your place, start with a free home valuation from our team.
