North Cheyenne Cañon Park
El Paso County
North Cheyenne Cañon Park reflects the rising interest in conservation in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries and the subsequent growth of tourism and recreation in the American West. The idea of setting aside wilderness areas as parks as a way of preserving them began in the middle to late nineteenth century. In 1885 the City of Colorado Springs purchased the initial six hundred acres, forming the core of the park.
North Cheyenne Cañon Park
The city sought to set aside and preserve the canon as a place where the public could experience the natural splendor. With the coming of the railroad in the last decades of the nineteenth century, travel to the West became easier and the park became an important Colorado tourist attraction. To accommodate visitors early in the park's history, park managers established hiking trails, some of which followed existing footpaths.