Gallery • 7 Photos

The gravel pit while it was still in operation (1999)

Don Ellis is a local historian and expert on the Red Rocks Open Space. Ellis wrote in one article that the first man-made pond was not intended to be a pond, it was actually just the lowest level in one of the old quarries, shaped like an enclosed rectangular area that filled with water and looked much like a swimming pool.

In 1904 after the quarry shut down, this pool became a local swimming pond that some of the kids from Colorado City used. One of those kids, 13-year-old Harrell Ross, drowned in the pool in 1904. The swimming hole was then closed.

In 1907, John G. Bock came to Colorado from Philadelphia. Most of the land in southeastern Colorado was government owned and open to homesteading, however most of the land was unclaimed due to the dry summers and harsh winters. After a short time working as a rancher Bock contracted tuberculosis and began purchasing land as it became available.

By 1938, Bock owned about 650 acres of land, which included most of the private land in Red Rock Canyon, Greenlee (Wild Horse) Canyon, Sand Canyon, and Gypsum Canyon, as well as a large part of the hogbacks. Brock designed plans to build a series of damns and ponds. After his death, his sons furthered those plans. After struggling to find a source of income for years, things started to improve when he was able to buy some cattle and started ranching.

Bock contracted tuberculosis and began purchasing land as it became available because he could no longer be a rancher. His first purchase of Red Rock Canyon land was a 72-acre Gypsum Canyon parcel. He bought the land from Hattie Stewart for $3 per acre. He bought 129 acres which had belonged to the Greenlee Stone Company for $1,300, 45 acres that had belonged to Earth Products Company for $500, 40 acres that had once belonged to the Colorado Stone Company for $500, 200 acres that belonged to the Union Land and Cattle Company for $4,000, the 87 acre Swope property for some back taxes.

By 1938, Bock owned about 650 acres of land, which included most of the private land in Red Rock Canyon, Greenlee (Wild Horse) Canyon, Sand Canyon, and Gypsum Canyon, as well as a large part of the hogbacks.

Bock built eight dams in hopes that, “the dams would let the area behind them fill up with earth over the years and then cover that area that was once a washout, with trees and shrubbery,” according to the book “In Red Rock Canyon Land.”

When Bock died, the land was passed off to his sons, John S. and Richard. The Bock brothers developed a grandiose plan for their “Red Rock Canyon Project” development. The plan included 13 perennial lakes and ponds. Five in Sand Canyon, Three in Greenlee Canyon, Four in Red Rock Canyon, and one in Black Bear (or Wild Bear) Canyon.

The Bock brothers planned on building dams for each of ponds and lakes. When all said and done, only dams for 5 of the ponds were built and remain today along with one made to replace the former landfill located in Gypsum Canyon in Section 16 which acts as a dam that impounds a pond called the “South Pond.”

Gypsum Canyon’s “South Pond” became a landfill in 1970 when granted certificate for use as a 2.5 acre landfill. Expansion permits were granted, and by 1973 the landfill’s size increased to 17.89 acres. By 1986 the landfill stopped accepting waste. In 1987 a formal closure plan was submitted for approval. The remaining waste now acts as a dam.

The former landfill, Gypsum Canyon’s “South Pond”, is located far from the ponds utilized by local teens for cliff diving, nor were any of the existing ponds ever used for the purpose of a landfill. The only body of water existing today that’s prior use was intended for a landfill is a dam, which is obviously not an available cliff diving water bed.

Chris Lieber with the Parks and Recreation Department of Colorado Springs says that since it is illegal for people to swim in the ponds, there isn’t really much testing of the waters because it is known that the water mostly consists of run-off from the excessive flooding that occurred during the 2013 summer.

Friends of Red Rocks Canyon, a non-profit organization, supports Red Rock Canyon Open Space through stewardship, education, advocacy, fundraising and volunteer projects.

According to David Valier, a member of Friends of Red Rocks Canyon, fund raising on the Red Rock Canyon Pond was started with the IndyGive, late 2012.  “We intended to make a big push for fund raising in the Fall of 2013 by making a mailer to be mailed out to many around Red Rock Canyon.” He says, “The floods in September 2013 filled not only the Red Rock Canyon Pond, but many of the other ponds throughout the open space.”

Valier says, The Friends of Red Rock Canyon, decided not to push for more funds, in light of the now full ponds on the property.  There are still issues about water rights, dam safety, and water needs, in order to keep the pond filled in the future, which still need to be addressed.  As for now, the Friends of Red Rock Canyon are not actively raising funds for the pond.

SEE SAM WEISS’ related story “CLIFF DIVING IN RED-ROCK CANYON, A RISKY THRILL”