Corral Bluffs Open Space was purchased by the City of Colorado Springs on November 25, 2008. It is an area of surprising beauty hidden on the eastern border of Colorado Springs. Corral Bluffs/Jimmy Camp is one of only a few places on earth where the fossil record of the first million years after the extinction of the dinosaurs has been preserved. Mammals flourished for the first time as their primary predators disappeared and these fragile fossils are hidden here.
Please note that Corral Bluffs will not be open to the public for several months as geologic, paleontologic, archaeologic and environmental studies are completed. The master planning process will be under way to determine trails that will present this area to the public, but will preserve its important historical resources.
Jimmy Camp Creek Park is also not yet open to the public. The same processes as Corral Bluffs need to be completed.
Geologically speaking, Jimmy Camp Creek Park is important because it contains the K/T Boundary- the layer that separates the Cretaceous Period from the Tertiary Period, and the time when dinosaurs became extinct.
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Turtles, alligators and crocodiles are among the creatures that wandered the flat, tree covered land during the early Paleocene. Palm wood is a commonly found tree fossil. The fossils give us clues to a paleoenvironment very different from modern Colorado Springs.
A large amphitheatre formed by the soft rock of the Dawson Formation.
Crocodile vertebra
Turtle scutes and fossil wood
Reddish concretions found in many layers
DMNS re-creation of early Paleocene landscape, slightly more recent than Corral Bluffs
Corral Bluffs; The story of Colorado Springs parks and open spaces as told by the rocks; the paleontology and geology. Copyright 2008, Sharon Milito. No material in part or in whole may be reproduced without written consent.
