Hiking the popular Manitou Incline may become legal

The Manitou Incline, the most popular, and illegal, trail in the region, could open to hikers within months if a hush-hush deal between the Pikes Peak Cog Railway and the city of Colorado Springs goes through.

The written agreement, being reviewed by the City Attorney's Office, would give the cog railway a longterm easementlike agreement to use a small parking lot at the upper end of Ruxton Avenue owned by Colorado Springs. In exchange, Colorado Springs would get an easement for a trail along the Incline. No money would change hands.

The reaction from the public is likely to be joyous. The Incline has become one of the most popular hikes in the region. It is one of the things that makes Colorado Springs Colorado Springs. Recently "The infamous Incline" as SI.com called it, has been written up in Sports Illustrated and The New York Times as the ultimate proving ground for Olympic athletes, but it is just as popular with high school soccer teams, stayat-home moms, soldiers preparing for Iraq and baby boomers looking to lose a few pounds.

"It's the one workout where people truly have to face something that is unbeatable," speedskater Apolo Ohno told The New York Times this month. "It is you against yourself."

With growing popularity also comes the pressing issue of maintenance. The trail is so steep that if a solution is not found quickly, it will fall apart.

"This is pretty close to a done deal," said Councilman Scott Hente, who spearheaded negotiations between the city and the cog, and has been a regular incliner since 2005. "I want to be standing there when that ‘No trespassing' sign comes down. In fact, I want to be the one to take it down."

For almost a decade the trail, which lies partially on private property owned by the cog railway, has been off-limits. That hasn't stopped the steep jumble of railroad ties, which climbs 2,000 feet in about a mile, from attracting hundreds of people per day.

The agreement is not final; both sides are reviewing the legal details. Even when the documents are signed, Hente said, there will still be things to work out with the U.S. Forest Service, which manages the upper portion of the Incline, and the nearby neighborhoods of Manitou Springs, which have borne the brunt of parking problems created by the trail's popularity. Hente said that could take two to six months.

But all sides seem willing.

Pike National Forest spokesman Frank Landis said, "If the other property owners wanted to open it, I'm sure we would support and honor that."

Cog railway managers, who for years resisted opening the abandoned railroad grade to the public, now think a coordinated, cooperative effort to manage the Incline is the best solution.

"We have a lot of challenges to work out, and I think this is the best way to do it," said cog manager Spencer Wren.

If hiking the Incline is legalized, he said, the cog, local governments and hikers could work together on finding parking solutions and stabilizing the fasteroding grade, which can fill the cog's parking lots with debris.

"We don't have anything to sign yet, but we're ready. The ball is in the city's court," Wren said.

The City Attorney's Office said it does not comment on pending deals.

"Wow, sweet!" local trail running legend Matt Carpenter said Monday when he heard the news.

Carpenter helped popularize working out on the Incline in the 1990s, but he stopped in 2000 when it was closed.

"Kudos to the cog and everyone else for working something out. I think they'll see what a valuable asset it can be," he said.

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Contact the writer: 636-0223 or dave.philipps@gazette.com