The Town of Castle Rock is moving forward to build a trail connection that will link the open space areas at Mitchell Gulch and Gateway Mesa. According to a news release issued by town staff last Friday:

"The Town of Castle Rock is getting one step closer to its goal of connecting trails. On Monday, July 23, construction will begin on a new soft-surface trail that will connect the existing Mitchell Gulch Open Space trail with the Gateway Mesa Open Space trail. Construction should take three to four weeks."

"This is a big connection and eventually, with the help of Douglas County, will get tied into Hidden Mesa Open Space," said Rich Havel, trails planner for the Town. "Plus, the community has asked for more soft-surface trails and this will help meet that demand."

"The new trail will be 2 feet wide, and about a mile and a half in length. It will connect the north end of the existing 8-foot-wide concrete trail at Mitchell Gulch with the soft-surface trail of Gateway Mesa."

"This trail is only 2 feet wide so we disturb the natural environment as little as possible," Havel said, adding, "It's a beautiful trail section and there's great wildlife associated with that environment - swallows nest in that area, and you see falcon, red-tailed hawks, turkey vultures and more."

"This new section of the trail will be labeled hiking-only as is the existing trail at Gateway. For more information about planned parks and trails, contact Rich Havel at 303-733-4482."

I'm looking forward to this project being completed. It will make for a spectacular hike in some of the most beautiful areas of Castle Rock.