So-called desire paths have formed on the grounds of campus over the school year providing shortcuts from building to building.
A desire path, also called a “goat path” by the college’s grounds staff, is a trail formed by continuous walking over natural environments outside of the officially maintained walking areas.
On the Colorado College campus, a few trails have developed, notably on the Tava Quad and in the Langer Sundial next to Tutt Science.
John Nichols, the current supervisor and interim manager for grounds and landscaping at CC, said the grounds crew generally doesn’t mind students walking on these nontraditional trails.
He said desire paths have even caused the formation of permanent paths over CC’s history, specifically the walkways made with “Breeze” or orange crushed rock. However, the grounds crew does not intend to convert any current desire paths into permanent trails at this time, he said. Both the Tava and Langer quads are used for intramural sports.
Signs around campus have asked students to remain on walking paths; however, these requests are primarily directed towards walking over plants or flowers, like on the median of Cascade Avenue.
Asked if there was any plan to mitigate students creating desire paths, Nichols was not in favor of any enforcement, like fences. He only asks students to both enjoy and respect the landscape.
“We’re not here to do crowd control,” he said. “At the end of the day, it’s a college campus. Students are going to go where they’re going to go.”