Sometimes you’ve just got to get away and get back to nature. When you stare at a big beautiful mountain like Pikes Peak every day, you can hear it calling. Next year it’s going to be even easier to get out in the wild close to home on the south side of America’s Mountain, thanks to a new campground and recreation area at Rosemont Reservoir.
“We are making the Pikes Peak area an even better and more fun area to recreate. Coloradans will soon have a brand new place to camp, fish and paddle in the shadow of Pikes Peak, and the watershed and wildlife we value will be protected for years to come,” said Gov. Jared Polis at a groundbreaking ceremony on Oct. 23.
Rosemont Reservoir is located about 12 miles southwest of Colorado Springs along Gold Camp Road. Anglers may know the remote lake for its trout and Kokanee salmon. Hikers and cyclists may know it as the reservoir near Frosty Park and the trailheads to Almagre Mountain, Mount Rosa and the Jones Downhill mountain bike trail.
The new outdoor recreation area at Rosemont will feature 35 primitive campsites, five tent campsites, vault toilets, a non-motorized boat launch (think SUPs and canoes), a day-use area, pavilion and scenic overlook. The area will be a key addition to the southern, lesser-trafficked side of Pikes Peak, but it is even more significant as the first project of the newly created Pikes Peak Recreation Area.
For users, the larger Pikes Peak Recreation Area will mean more recreation amenities and opportunities on and around America’s Mountain. For land managers, it’s a framework to find ways to collaborate in tangible, mutually beneficial ways.
“What’s really important is that this is a huge milestone for how we work together and how we advance the regional vision for outdoor recreation and conservation,” says Becky Leinweber, executive director of Pikes Peak Outdoors, which has been a catalyst in creating the new recreation area and model.
One Mountain, Many Managers
Locals and visitors to Pikes Peak see one mountain, but its ownership, stewardship and access are divided among nine stakeholders, ranging from El Paso and Teller counties to Colorado Springs Utilities, Colorado Parks and Wildlife and the U.S. Forest Service, among others. Multiply that many organizations and institutions by varying goals, guidelines, regulations and, in some cases, political priorities, and interagency cooperation has not always been smooth
“A lot of this is trust building among partners,” Leinweber says. “We have very different agencies involved with different rules and regulations, so this isn’t something that just happens overnight. It takes years of relationship building, trust building, working through barriers and trying to figure out: What’s our shared vision? What can we do together? How can we leverage each other’s strengths? I love seeing that come out of this process. It’s a huge milestone to see this recreation area.”
“This is what coordination across local, state and federal partners delivers,” Polis said. “I am grateful to Colorado Parks and Wildlife, Colorado Springs Utilities and every land-management organization that made it happen.”
How We Got Here
The Pikes Peak Recreation Area has been years in the making. Its genesis traces back to 2021 when Pikes Peak Outdoors (then called the Pikes Peak Outdoor Recreation Alliance) was selected as one of the state’s first four Outdoor Regional Partnerships by Colorado Parks and Wildlife and Great Outdoors Colorado. The designation launched the Outdoor Pikes Peak Initiative (OPPI), which began with gathering public input and spearheading efforts among the land managers to create a new model.
OPPI evaluated 16 land-management models, narrowed it to four, then eventually one with public input along the way. In 2025, the Outdoor Pikes Peak Initiative Vision Plan was released, identifying 30 priority projects and creating a foundation for sustained collaboration. Pikes Peak Outdoors received a $2.5 million grant from Colorado Parks and Wildlife and Great Outdoors Colorado to fund the first phase of implementing the vision plan.
The Plan Becomes Reality
Rosemont Reservoir is the first physical manifestation of the Pikes Peak Recreation Area, and Leinweber credits Colorado Springs Utilities, which owns the reservoir, for fast-tracking the project.
“We’re increasing recreation, but we’re actually increasing security at the same time,” said Colorado Springs Utilities CEO Travas Deal at the groundbreaking, noting that the increased presence and oversight can add protection to the reservoir and watershed that are part of Colorado Springs’ drinking water supply.
Under the Pikes Peak Recreation Area model, Colorado Parks and Wildlife has assumed the management role as it does for all of Colorado’s state parks. “What they bring to the table is recreation management and enforcement at the same time,” Leinweber says. “They have boots on the ground.” The new area already has its own assigned park manager.
What’s different from those state parks with single entrance points and contiguous land masses is the spread-out nature of the Pikes Peak Recreation Area. The Arkansas Headwaters Recreation Area proved to be a valuable model to build upon because it offers many access points and separate areas between Leadville and Canon City. But while that area covers 152 miles along the linear Arkansas River corridor, the lands of the Pikes Peak Recreation Area are spread out. Leinweber likens them to the chocolate chips in a cookie — for now.
“The Pikes Peak Recreation Area is going to be a little bit different. You can’t just put a circle around it right now and say, here’s the area,” Leinweber says. “It’s going to be more like a chocolate chip cookie where the chips in different areas are managed this way. Eventually, could it expand with a larger geographic footprint where you can draw a circle around it? Perhaps. I think when the state looks at opportunities, every one is a little unique.”
What’s important is the creative, collaborative model it represents in delivering recreation and preservation.
What’s Next for the Pikes Peak Recreation Area
Rosemont is now open for fishing. The campground and expanded opportunities for non-motorized boating will open in 2027. And there is one other campground along Old Stage Road in the works as part of the Pikes Peak Recreation Area. More will come as the various stakeholders continue to work together toward shared goals. And while the Ring the Peak Trail around Pikes Peak is not currently a part of the Pikes Peak Recreation Area, Leinweber says the collaborative model can be an important key that crosses over.
“This is how the Pikes Peak Recreation Area is beginning,” Leinweber says. “I don’t think anybody knows where we’re going to end up.”
But she is also quick to stress the importance of the public as a partner in the process — even when that process can span years between public input sessions and dirt moving on the ground.
“I hope everyone will be excited to see how their input is shaping the future of recreation and conservation,” she says. “I hope they will be able to realize, ‘What I value matters, and what we’re doing in the region will benefit me, my family, friends and family who come to visit, my kids’ and even their kids years from now. ’ These investments tie right back to what we hear is important to our residents.”
In the near future, that will bring new camping and water recreation to Pikes Peak at Rosemont. In the long term, it can mean much more for Colorado Springs and even beyond.
As Teller County Commissioner Dan Williams said at the groundbreaking, “I believe the work here will provide the true north or the north star for all of Colorado.”
Find more places to sleep beneath the stars in our 18 Favorite Spots for Camping in Colorado Springs and Beyond.
Follow more updates on the Pikes Peak Recreation Area and its vision at pikespeakoutdoors.org
