City Nature Challenge

The City Nature Challenge is a friendly competition between cities worldwide to encourage resident scientists to help study and monitor urban biodiversity. This year, more than 350 cities worldwide will participate.

We invite YOU to explore the biodiversity in Colorado Springs by finding and identifying animals, plants, and all living things in our city and surrounding areas.

In the friendly competition, everyone is a winner as we all learn more about nature around us. Colorado Springs has participated in the City Nature Challenge since 2019.

Participation is easy:

Download the FREE iNaturalist app. The app is free to download on the Apple App Store and Google Play for Android. You can also upload pictures taken with a camera on the iNaturalist website.
Explore nature near you! If can be animals, plants, insects, scat, fur, trees… found anywhere in El Paso County or the Pikes Peak area.
Take a picture and share your observations. Take and submit your photos through the iNaturalist app, or you can upload them manually to the iNaturalist website.