Santa Fe Open Space

Santa Fe Open Space is an El Paso County Parks property purchased with the help of the Palmer Land Conservancy in 2017. This 65-acre pristine upland ranchland lies on the southern slopes of Ben Lomond Mountain near Palmer Lake, Colorado. Around 1869, the Bennett family established a homestead near the north end of the lake; their Ben Lomond Ranch extended northward across the El Paso and Douglas County border. Locals refer to Elephant Rock as “Citadel Rock.” In 1870, General William Jackson Palmer acquired the property as part of the Monument Farms & Lake Property to start the Denver & Rio Grande Railroad.

Covered in thick stands of scrub oak, mature ponderosa pine trees, and rolling grass meadows, the property was purchased to be transformed into a natural open space. It provides users of the adjacent New Santa Fe Regional Trail an opportunity to experience a more natural foothills environment in close proximity to urbanized areas and major trailheads.

RMFI recently added the Corral Loop Trail on the north side of the property—a multi-use singletrack trail that adds more mileage and access to this beautiful shrubland open space.