Could a golf course be the next great outdoor escape in the “City Above the Clouds” west of Colorado Springs?

Advocates in Woodland Park think so.

The 18-hole Shining Mountain Golf Course “is such a big parcel, with so much more potential than golf,” said Chris Gonzales, who leads Teller Trail Team, a nonprofit aiming to expand recreation in Teller County.

That could be done, he said, in a locally unprecedented way at the for-sale 355 acres that Woodland Park’s City Council last month directed staff to pursue buying.

In an email to The Gazette, City Manager Aaron Vassalotti indicated a closing date was being eyed next month, following the City Council’s next meeting on Oct. 16. Previously, council had been presented with a $3.2 million price tag. (The golf course has been listed at more than $6 million in recent years.)

“I can just imagine people saying, ‘What? You’re spending $3 million on a golf course?'” said Jerry Smith, another local outdoor advocate.

But the property could “greatly” benefit non-golfers, he said: “Whether it be hiking or more biking trails or cross-country skiing, I think there’s a lot of opportunity.”

Indeed, “the city is thrilled with the potential for outdoor recreation opportunities,” Vassalotti said, adding “the land is incredibly beautiful.”

After last month’s presentation, one city councilmember, Jeffrey Geer, said the acquisition posed “a really monumental moment” for Woodland Park. That was how officials last year described the acquisition of Avenger Open Space — what was marked as the city’s largest land acquisition to date.

“That was 120 acres,” Jerry Penland said. “We’re talking about 355 acres here.”

Formerly on the city’s Planning Commission, he has long seen untapped potential for the golf course that he looks out to from his home. An avid golfer who has traveled to courses around the world, Shining Mountain is “not a golfer friendly course,” Penland said. But it could be, he said, with the right upkeep and vision under municipal care.

More importantly, Penland said: “The golf course is 355 acres of total area, but the golf course itself is on about a third of that.”

Yes, his idea has been for the rest of the rolling, tree-lined, creek-fed terrain to be for other outdoor enthusiasts. They would be treated to what Penland knows to be “unbelievable views” of Pikes Peak. And “it’s easy access,” he said of the land right off Colorado 67.

The size and accessibility could make it unlike any other park or open space in Woodland Park, Gonzales said. The golf course “has been on my wish list for a while,” he said.

It’s the kind of property he had in mind when he launched Teller Trail Team in 2022.

“There’s not a lot of large parcels like this right here in Woodland Park, just because we’re surrounded by so much (national forest), which is a blessing,” Gonzales explained, “but it also in some respects limits the possibilities for expanded recreation within the city.”

What could management look like?

“The city will need more time to evaluate options,” Vassalotti said. “However, the current intention is to continue running the course as an 18-hole course and continue to program the event center.”

For the course, event center and restaurant, Penland has imagined a city enterprise — a self-sustaining business overseen by the local government, like other municipal golf courses. In the winter, Gonzales has imagined an operation around a Nordic center, perhaps like nonprofit Woodmoor Nordic in Monument.

And Gonzales has imagined the property becoming something of a hub for broader adventure in the surrounding national forest: “I think it could provide for some really interesting connectivity possibilities.”