Fans of Rainbow Falls once again participate in cleanup

The site has been the focus of several improvement projects since the county acquired it from the Mansfield Development Corporation in 2010.After the creek flooded following the Waldo Canyon fire in 2012, the Colorado Department of Transportation stabilized the waterway's banks and repaired an access road and trail that lead to the falls. Last year, the agency finished $1.8 in maintenance work on the bridge.But, despite the repeated efforts to make the area spray paint-free, the graffiti keeps coming back, Clark said."It's been over a decade that we've been working on this, and it's probably going to be another decade," she said.More upgrades are in the works. The county plans to spend nearly $450,000 in grants and local funding to revamp the site after it closes in early fall. Proposed renovations include improved trails and parking, a plaza with seating for visitors at the base of the falls and a foot bridge over Fountain Creek.The title of a historic site will come with other benefits, including new surveillance cameras, a gate to secure the area, and steeper fines for vandals who deface the falls, Clark said.The county will also install interpretive signs to convey the site's legacy, which dates back decades. The falls were once a site of spiritual significance for a band of Ute Indians known as the Tabegauche. The area also includes part of the original Ute Pass wagon trail, a thoroughfare that led settlers to mining camps to the west, such as Cripple Creek and Victor.The site will be open from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. on Friday, Saturday, Sunday and Monday through August.-Contact Rachel Riley: 636-0108... (Colorado Springs Gazette)