Whether you’re an Incline regular, an intermittent Incliner or a first-timer, the Incline Friends Board of Directors wants you to know we appreciate all of you. Your passion, your determination, your camaraderie, the community you’ve helped create and sustain, make you more than worthy of our admiration. Thus we hope you’ll join us Saturday morning, September 24th so we can express our appreciation in person. We’ll be at the base of the Incline from 7-10 a.m. with goodies to share. See you there and Hike on!
News & Information: The Incline Friends Blog
Incline Friends partner with Leave No Trace Hot Spot Week
Incline Friends will be at the Manitou Brewing Company Friday, October 15 and then again on Saturday, October 16 at Kinship Landing. There will be trivia and prizes to take home!
Check out our previous post to learn more about what “Hot Spot Week” is.
There are many wonderful workshops and programs that you won’t want to miss!
An interactive flyer can be found on our website and Facebook Page.
Please feel free to contact us if you have any questions.
We are so excited to see you all there!!!
Leave No Trace Hot Spots
Incline Friends is proud to participate in Leave No Trace Hot Spot Week. IF board members will be collaborating with the Colorado Springs Parks Department to help spread important information to the public, particularly those who use our outdoor resources for recreation.
Learn more about Hot Spot Week within the photos. There is also a QR code that can be used to register for the event. We hope to see you there.
Please feel free to contact us if you have any questions!
More info to follow!!!
Major Donations
Approaching its Tenth Anniversary as a non-profit advocacy group for the Incline, Incline Friends is pleased to announce three, recent, extremely generous donations to our cause.
All of the donations were made during the month of February, 2021.
Two of the donations came from a trust established by a gentleman who once lived in Manitou Springs and regularly hiked on the Incline. After he passed away in April 2020, the trustee in charge of the fund began considering a way to honor his memory by searching for Colorado organizations that might fit the man’s passion and appreciation for outdoor recreation and natural resources.
After speaking with Incline Friends and seeing some of the work that had been accomplished on and around the Incline, the trustee made an initial donation of $100,000. Shortly thereafter, the trustee sent Incline Friends a donation in the amount of $400,000. The trustee made the determination to make such generous donations “so that Incline Friends can accomplish even more.”
Later in the month, a long-time supporter of Incline Friends, who has made multiple, generous donations through the years gifted our organization with a donation of $25,000. In both cases, the donors prefer to remain anonymous at this time.
These donations validate the efforts of the many people who have worked hard to restore and preserve the Incline and who continue to work to make the Incline a positive experience for everyone.
Donations such as these also speak to the importance of the Incline. For many people the Incline embodies challenge, accomplishment, camaraderie and community. It is the lasting impact that the Incline had on these donors that contributed to their generous support.
Coming on the heels of the 2020 completion of the Northern Return Trail (NRT) from the Incline to the Ute Trail, these generous donations will provide continued momentum as the Incline Friends pursue two of its major goals, construction of another trail from the top of the Incline that would connect with the NRT and construction of permanent bathrooms at the base of the Incline.
Reservations Clarifications
Alright, there is some justifiable confusion surrounding this system. By that we mean you are justified in being confused because of the way the MOU (Memorandum of Understanding between Manitou and Colorado Springs) is written. First and foremost we encourage you not to take out your frustrations with the Colorado Springs park ranger and/or attendants attempting to manage the reservation system at the base. Let us address some points that need to be clarified:
Proof of parking: If you park at Hiawatha Gardens, make sure you take the time to get a receipt out of the parking kiosk there. This will not cost you anything but if the Incline attendants ask you where you park you will need to show this receipt. If you park at Iron Springs Chateau, attendants there will give you a receipt you can show to the Incline attendants. Why all this hassle? Because Manitou Springs wants to keep people from driving up Ruxton Avenue looking for parking spaces. Now that parking on Ruxton has been designated for Ruxton residents only (you WILL be ticketed if you park on Ruxton) this is rather a moot point, rendering the whole proof of parking requirement senseless. As we said, you are justified in being confused. The simplest thing to do if you forget to get a receipt at Hiawatha Gardens, if you are asked where you parked just tell the Incline attendants that you walked up to the Incline because, the way the MOU is written if you have a reservation and you walk to the Incline you’re good, that’s cool. (yes we know, if you park at Hiawatha, you have to walk) As we said….
No reservation?: You may still be able to get on the Incline through the “walk-up” provision in the MOU. If there are open spots because reservations were made but people didn’t show up for that time slot, you can “walk on” after getting a wristband. “No-shows” have consistently run at a suspiciously high 30%.
7-Day Advance: You may only make a reservation 7-days in advance so if you’re trying to plan real far ahead, don’t get discouraged if you see there are no reservations available, you’re just a little too early. For example, if it’s the 10th day of the month and you try to reserve anything farther out than the 17th or into the following month you won’t be able to.
Multiples: Ah yes, you athletes that are fit enough to do repeats on the ‘cline! Please note your wristband is not imprinted with “one trip only.” Ergo you can come down and go up again. Note that coming down the Incline is never recommended at any time, especially during the COVID threat but then you repeaters do it and we trust you are generally safe and respectful in doing it. IF you come down the Barr Trail and try to go back up, the attendants may object but we are working on that.
Hiawatha Kiosk?: Is the kiosk (or kiosks) at Hiawatha Gardens just there to provide you a free receipt? We expect Manitou to eventually charge for parking there, something we will address in a future post if and when that charge is applied.
Shuttle: The shuttle from Hiawatha Gardens parking lot is currently operating.
Incline Opening Update!
The Incline is now open!
Under the MOU, the city of Colorado Springs will implement and manage a reservation system, requiring Incline users to sign up for an allotted time slot.
Make an online reservation at www.coloradosprings.gov/
Reservations are available between 6 a.m.-6 p.m. For the first two weeks, reservations are available for 35 people every 30 minutes. After that, the capacity will be increased to 45 people every 30 minutes. All users are asked to also follow current local recommendations for COVID-19, which will be readily available on the Incline website. Right now in Manitou Springs, that includes the use of a face covering, both indoors and outdoors, when a distance of 6-feet cannot be maintained.