Prairie Life

Longtime local journalist Bill Radford and his wife, Margaret, live on 5 acres in the Falcon area with chickens, rabbits, dogs, cats, a flock of parakeets, goats, two horses and two ducks. Contact Bill at billradford3@gmail.com.

Oh, the Rock Island Line is a mighty good road
By Bill Radford

Not long ago, I took a stroll from Falcon to Peyton.

That walk was on the Rock Island Regional Trail, which El Paso County says on its website is a 10.5-mile trail, though the mile markers put it at 9 miles. Either way, it’s more than a walk around the block.

Here’s how the county describes the trail, which opened to the public in 2011: “The 10.5-mile Rock Island Regional Trail runs parallel to Highway 24 between Falcon and Peyton and is part of the America the Beautiful Trail. It was constructed on the former Chicago and Rock Island Railroad line that ran between Falcon and Peyton. Excellent views of several landmarks are visible from the trail, including Pikes Peak, Rampart Range, Rattlesnake Buttes at Homestead Ranch Regional Park, Spanish Peaks, West Mountains and the Sangre de Cristo Mountain Range. Opportunities for wildlife observation are abundant. Picnic tables are available at the Falcon trailhead, and benches are at regular intervals along the trail corridor.”

A county video from 2018 describes the trail as popular “but not super busy. … It follows the old Rock Island Railroad bed and since trains can’t handle much of a grade, it’s a fairly flat trail. So it’s a very easy trail for just about anybody to use. … Really a nice, easy trail and steeped in a lot of history, too.”

That history relates to the Rock Island Railroad — and to Falcon. As a story 20 years ago in The New Falcon Herald noted: “The beginnings of Falcon are rooted in the Rock Island Railroad. In 1888, the Rock Island completed the track from Limon to Colorado Springs in order to connect with the Colorado Midland Railroad. … This intersection of two railroad companies necessitated the building of a depot; Falcon’s first train depot was built in 1890, where Farmers State Bank is now located. … During the Rock Island Railroad’s peak, six passenger trains and six freight trains passed through Falcon daily.”

The railroad, which began in Illinois as the Rock Island and La Salle Railroad Co. in 1847, had a history of booms and busts, culminating in its liquidation in 1980. It even spawned a song, “Rock Island Line,” sung by Johnny Cash, among others. The chorus goes:

Oh, the Rock Island Line is a mighty good road
Oh, the Rock Island Line is the road to ride
The Rock Island Line is a mighty good road
If you want to ride, you gotta ride it like you find it
Get your ticket at the station for the Rock Island Line

There’s also the Rock Island Trail in Colorado Springs, which runs alongside the old railroad bed and parallel to Constitution Avenue, going west from Powers Boulevard. The trail isn’t far from the last home we had in the Springs, and I ran many miles on it. (Full disclosure: There’s also a catalpa tree planted alongside the trail by Colorado Springs Parks, Recreation and Cultural Services honoring my wife, Margaret, for her years serving on City Council and supporting the trail.)

Years ago, before I had any idea I would be living in Falcon, I ran on a trail across Banning Lewis property from the east side of the Springs to near the store at the Falcon Meadow Campground. I may have climbed a fence and possibly ignored a “no trespassing” sign in doing so, but I figure I’m long past the statute of limitations on that. And that route could become official someday, as the Trails and Open Space Coalition (TOSC) says in its description of the Rock Island Trail that there are “plans to extend it east to connect with El Paso County’s Rock Island Regional Trail in Falcon.”

“It’s been on our radar for a number of years,” said Allen Beauchamp, community engagement coordinator with TOSC. A first step: Getting from the east side of Powers to the west side; that will be accomplished by building an underpass along Sand Creek just south of Constitution Avenue. From there, the trail would follow the creek corridor and then become a shared Rock Island/Sand Creek Trail for a stretch. But getting the trail farther east and to Falcon will require a lot of steps and entities, including working with the city, the county and developers.

Once and if that is done, though, here’s an idea for someone even more ambitious. My home state of Missouri has Rock Island Trail State Park, with a 47-mile trail that appears to be envisioned as just part of a 144-mile trail. So perhaps our Rock Island Trail could connect with theirs — from Colorado, through Kansas, to Missouri. Now that would be a hike.