P.O. Box 822 Golden, Colorado, 80402
cressman gulch
Introduction
The Cressman Gulch Open Space consists of approximately 5.9 acres of linear - long and narrow - open space that borders both sides of the lower Cressman Gulch watercourse east of Colorado 93/Washington Ave in North Golden. At its southernmost point it merges with Tucker Gulch.
The City’s Cressman Gulch Open Space is a small part of a once longer 3.5-mile expanse, named for Thomas Crisman, an early Golden pioneer and rancher. The watercourse headwaters are on an unnamed mountain north of Golden Gate Canyon and south of Van Bibber Creek. Sometime between the 1930’s, and 1965, the name of the gulch morphed to become “Cressman Gulch”. Part of the gulch was rechanneled in 1965 after a major flood in Golden. (1)
This discussion references maps that can be downloaded at the bottom of the page.
more about cressman gulch
Cressman Gulch trail begins at Ford Street and Mesa Drive, across from Norman D. Park. It follows a water way with a steady climb to the intersection of Ford St and Wyoming Circle close to Highway 93 where it ends. There are multiple access points.
Along the Cressman Gulch Trail, there is the small Cressman City Park with playground equipment.
Golden’s open space bordering the waterway follows the gradual sloping downward land from the northwest to the southeast until merging with Tucker Gulch.
The Gulch is, for the most part a riparian area lined with established trees, shrubs and grasses. An onsite overview assessment of the vegetation in 2024 identified many weeds including invasive plants. One such plant is the Bladder-Senna that can grow to six feet tall and become invasive. Also found is Cereal Rye that was probably introduced as a revegetation grass. (2)
Wildlife in this area typically includes birds, snakes and small mammals, such as rabbits, squirrels and other small rodents.
Crisman/Cressman Gulch played a brief but important part in the early history of Golden as a byway to the gold fields in the Central City area.
With the widespread news of gold in “Gregory Diggins” (Idaho Springs/Central City) in the early spring of 1859 many thousands of men and wagon teams rushed to the area. An informal new rough road was made by the feet of men and pack animals, mostly oxen and mules from Golden to the “diggings”. The road started in Golden going up Tucker Gulch and then reaching a difficult, up to two hours steep climb to “Enter Mountain”, a foothill that carries the marks of this old road. Traveling in June 1859 Horace Greeley describes the arduous trip to Central City.
By July 1859 a new toll road was opened in Golden Gate Canyon then known as the new Gregory Road to Central City. This road, which in sections was both parallel and connected with the original road, became the main byway for men, wagons and stagecoaches.
At this same time, the Crisman Gulch Road was built to avoid paying the tolls and provide an easier way for the Tucker Gulch Road travelers to enter the mountains. “The (Crisman) Road, while fairly level as it entered the mountains, concluded in a steep, short climb into the SW and crossing the ridgeline behind Enter Mountain, dropping into Tucker Gulch roughly 0.5 mile upstream from the toll station.” (3).
When the tolls on the Golden Gate Canyon Road were discontinued, there was little incentive for travelers to use either the Tucker or Crisman roads which then fell into disrepair.
During the late 1890’s and early 1900’s Daniel “Dan” L. Cressman was the superintendent of the Golden Pressed and Fire Brick Company and lived in the brick company house at the entrance of Crisman Gulch. Today the historic house and property is called, ”Brick Yard House” and is own by the City of Golden. Golden Landmarks Association has received grants from the city and state in the restoration of the house. It is quite possible that Dan Cressman and his family became the inspiration in later years to rename the gulch (4).
(1) Charles and Mary Ramstetter, “John Gregory Country” 2013, pp 82-83; correspondence with Tom Schweich; Koch, Roch, “The Lost Highway”, Golden Transcript Dec 1, 1978; and related Transcrpt articles.
(2) Correspondence with Tom Schwiech. See Schwiech’s “Cressman Gulch (Lower) Jefferson County, Colorado” at: https://www.schweich.com/geoCOJefCressmansGlL.html
(3) Ramstetter, 2013 p. 83.
4) Ramstetter, 2013, p. 83
tucker gulch
Introduction
The City of Golden owns approximately 21 acres of linear - long and narrow - open space bordering both sides of the upper and lower Tucker Gulch waterway within the city limits. It is a diminutive of the original gulch trail when the City of Golden was new (see below). The Gulch is named for Alfred Tucker who moved with his wife to Golden in 1859 from Illinois. (1)
Due to major floods, Tucker Gulch has been shaped and reshaped to what we see today.
This discussion references maps that can be downloaded at the bottom of the page.
more about tucker gulch
Tucker Gulch Trail is 1.10 mile long beginning at Vanover Park and Clear Creek. The trail continues steadily upward next to the Tucker Gulch waterway to Norman D. Park on Ford Street. A section of the trail is on an abandoned railroad bed. The trail continues under Colo 58/Washington Ave to the Golden Gate Canyon Road parking lot (2).
The trail is readily accessible for residents from their backyards, and visitors at street crossings which serve as informal trailheads.
On the west side of Colo 93/Washington Ave, are 6.3 acres in two parcels along Tucker Gulch Trail that are on a City planning map as area for the future realignment of Colo 93. Given the requirements of public engagement, funds for engineering studies and designs, and requirements for future funding to build, it likely will be some years before this land is impacted.
The geographical terrain from west of Colo 58/North Washington is decidedly sloped from the northwest to the southeast as the Trucker Gulch waterway drains into Clear Creek.
A general inventory of plants in the Lower Tucker identifies many weeds. The Hairy False Golden aster found in this open space is a native plant but not common in Jefferson County. The Creeping Meadow Foxtail is a non-native plant. There are also White Willow, and Bladder-Senna.
Click here to see Tom Schweich’s complete “Tucker Gulch Lower, Jefferson County, Colorado” plant list.
This area is home to typical small mammal and bird species found generally in Golden.
Tucker Gulch Trail is an urban open space trail that winds alongside a waterway aligned with groves of established trees, shrubs and grasses. Long or even short trail walks provide trail users with a nature experience, and even more so when water is flowing in the gulch. Birds and wildlife enhance the outdoor experience.
Along Trucker Gulch are rails and ties on which trains ran long ago. The history of these rails extends back to early Golden.
On September 26, 1870, W.A.H Loveland’s Colorado Central Railroad (CCRR) chugged into Golden with full passenger cars from Denver for a grand celebration. The rail line into Golden is still active today along 44th Avenue and now part of the Burlington Northern and Santa Fe (BNSF) Railway.
As the tracklayers in 1870 continued building up into Clear Creek canyon, a new Cheyenne route was planned with other track layers beginning on the eastside of North Table Mountain. The rail switch that turned trains to the north was located a short distance east of the Colorado RR Museum. The first CCRR to arrive in Cheyenne was on November 4, 1877. During these years, other railroads were being built north of Denver which led to interference of trains and schedules.
In 1877, and in control of the Union Pacific RR, the decision was made to build rails on the west side of North Table Mountain. Road bed grading started on what today is the Tucker Gulch Trail. The last train on the old line was in February 22, 1878 and track laying crews immediately began tearing up the rails and relaying the rails as fast as possible up the Tucker Gulch northward. They completed track laying on February 25th and trains started their Cheyenne runs on this new route. Rail service from Golden to Cheyenne was good for the financial health of Golden.
The Denver Marshall & Boulder RR rail line to Denver was in service in August 1886. It was a much shorter route to Denver. Within a decade, the Colorado Central, owned by the Union Pacific RR, re-routed the trains at a place called Marshall Junction. This used the Denver Marshall & Boulder rails and bypassed Golden. Sometime between 1888 and 1890, the rail line on Tucker Gulch to the Marshall Junction was abandoned, but this it did not mean rails were taken up.
In 1890, former Colorado Central was now part of the Union Pacific & Gulf Railway. The old main line going north of Golden, became a branch line and set up a spur to serve Church’s Golden Pressed Brickyard located at the mouth of Golden Gate Canyon. The “Brickyard Branch” as it was called also provided rail service to the Murphy Coal mine some seven miles north of Golden. Union Pacific reorganized the as “Colorado Southern” in January 1899. The little branch line continued to serve Golden businesses such as the Blake Quarry on North Table Mountain and the Denver Fire Clay Company which had their own spur line off the Brickyard Branch. By 1963, most of the rails were removed although some trail walkers today still find a few rails along the Tucker Gulch Trail (3).
Wide spread news of gold found by John Gregory in what was called, “Gregory Diggins” (Central City and Blackhawk) in the spring of 1859, brought many thousands of men and wagon teams rushing to Golden.
A new, rough road was created and used mostly by oxen and mules from Golden to the “diggings”. This road crossed Clear Creek and started up what today is Tucker Gulch. The travelers followed the gulch westward across the foothill prairie to the very difficult, one to two hours steep climb on “Enter Mountain”. Today, this foothill carries the scars at the top from full wagons on this first Gregory Road, but has no name. Traveling in June, 1859, Horace Greeley describes the arduous trip to from Golden to Central City (4).
By July, 1859, Tom Golden (the city’s namesake), along with Guy Hill and Dan McCleery, used their money and purchased black powder to open up Golden Gate Canyon as a toll road. This became the New Gregory Road to Central City and the main wagon and stage coach road into the mountains. Shortly after it as built, Alfred Tucker, who had his home in [Golden] Gate City, the small settlement located at the entrance of Golden Gate Canyon, gained legal access to the toll road.
By early 1860’s, the Mt Vernon and Apex Toll Roads were now in direct competition to the heavily traveled Golden Gate Canyon Road. Trucker Gulch Road and “Enter Mountain” fell in to disuse and neglect and became part of distant memories of old timers.
(1) Ramstetter, Charles & Mary, (eds). (2013) John Gregory Country: Place Names and History of Ralston Buttes Quadrangle, 2ndEd C Lazy Three Press. Golden Colorado, Ramstetter, 2013, p. 123.
(2) City of Golden website at: https://www.cityofgolden.gov/
(3) This section draws heavily on Abbott, Dan, “A Tour of Golden Railroads” pp. 9-14, Historic Jeffco, issue 4 (2) pp. 9-14. Also used, Abbott, Dan. (2024) Rails Around the Table Mountains: The Railroads of Golden, Colorado. Colorado Historical Foundation. Golden Colorado. Anderson, Donna S. and Paul B Haseman. (2021). Golden Rocks: The Geology and Mining History of Golden, Colorado. Pub. Golden, Colorado, see p.87. A section of curved rail under Colo. 58 along Ford Street was in place well into the 1990s
(4) Ramstetter. pp. 25-27.
Downloads
See Stewards’ "Golden Open Space Map" and Map Index downloads below.
The above discussion includes the following locations on the map:
Cressman Gulch - numbers 5,9,11,13 and 21 on map and index
Tucker Gulch - numbers 27, 29, 35, 39, 40, 42, 47, 54, 56, 58, 59, and 63 on map and index
Cressman Gulch has 6 parcels and approximately 5.9 acres
Tucker Gulch has 19 parcels and approximately 21 acres
Copyright © 2019 Stewards of Golden Open Space - All Rights Reserved.