P.O. Box 822 Golden, Colorado, 80402
North Table Mountain open space
Introduction
The City of Golden owns 135.5 acres on the southwest slope of North Table Mountain that borders Jefferson County Open Space and local neighborhoods and affords excellent views of the Golden Valley.
This discussion includes references to maps that can be downloaded at the bottom of this page.
North Table Mountain from Lookout Mountain -
By Rick Kimpel from Spring, TX, USA - North Table Mt
more about north table mountain open space
There are two distinct trails that connect with this open space. The City of Golden’s trail, “North Table Mountain Trail” can be accessed from a small parking area on Wyoming Circle, or from the “North Table Mountain Loop” trailhead parking area reached from Co.93.
The City’s trail joins and overlaps with the Jefferson County Open Space (Jeffco) “North Table Mountain Loop” trail as that trail heads southeast from the Jeffco trailhead parking area along the old quarry road. A short distance down the trail is a junction on the right which is the divergent point for the City’s “North Table Mountain Trail.”
This trail follows the water tank road on to city owned land. The trail weaves through private land owned by Mesa Meadows Phase 3 Homeowners Association and back on to city land. The trail stays below the rim. The city trail formally ends at Perry Drive.
The Jeffco “North Table Mountain Loop Trail” is far more extensive, and both climbs to the top of the North Table Mountain Mesa and goes all the way around the mountain.
Download the trail map at the bottom of this page.
Also see North Table Mountain in Golden, CO | Hiking & Trails (visitgolden.com)
The Golden open space land slopes upward steeply from the North Golden Neighborhoods at the foot of North Table Mountain. The city owned parcels are all below the ridge. The land above the ridge is part of Jefferson County Open Space.
North Table Mountain is underlain by sedimentary rocks of the Denver Formation, which spans the interval from the latest Cretaceous to early Paleocene time. An exposure of Cretaceous-Paleogene (K-Pg) boundary [formerly K/T boundary] layer has been Identified and documented on nearby South Table Mountain.
Three prominent, columnar jointed, cliff-forming lava flows can be seen on North Table Mountain, one exposed part way up the northwest slope, and two that form its cap. The Ralston Dike, a body of intrusive monzonite located about two miles to the northwest, represents the volcanic vent from which the flows erupted. The flows are about 62 to 64 million years old according to radiometric dating, which places them in the early Paleocene epoch. Generally referred to as basaltic, they are classified either as monzonite (the lowest flow) and latite (the upper two flows), or as shoshonite. They contain the minerals augite, plagioclase, and olivine altered to serpentine, with accessory sanidine, orthoclase, apatite, magnetite, and biotite. (1)
Vegetation is mostly Foothills Shrublands with some prairie and riparian plants. Many varieties of wildflowers bloom throughout the Spring, Summer, and Fall. The southwest slopes of North Table Mountain, including land owned by the City of Golden, have been substantially disturbed by ranching and mining. There is evidence that springs on the slope have been improved to increase the delivery of water.
On the slopes, there are thickets of American Plum and Mountain Ninebark found in riparian zones and even wild hops on Golden land. There are wildflowers, such as Scrambled Eggs, Foothills Penstemon, and Fenders Water Leaf. Various grasses, including Big Blue Stem.
Click here to see Tom Schweich's complete plant list for North Table Mountain.
Wildlife known to frequent this area as reported by residents, are coyotes, mountain lions, deer, elk, and rattlesnakes. Mountain sheep were once present but no longer live on the mesa today.
Birders know that North Table Mountain, including the slopes, is an official "eBird Hotspot" (https://ebird.org/hotspot/L2381632) with more than 130 species identified. eBird is managed by the Cornell Lab of Ornithology and is the world’s largest biodiversity-related citizen science project, with more than one hundred million bird sightings added each year by eBird contributors around the world.
The basalt quarry on top of North Table Mountain was opened in 1899 as the Blake Quarry, owned by F. O. Blake, owner of the Blake Asphalt and Paving Company.
Blake had leased the entire top of Mesa but getting rock down from the top within horse drawn carts proved difficult. In 1909, the Wescott-Doane Company took over and increased capacity with a crusher at the base of North Table Mountain. The company installed a gravity-driven tramway down the mountainside to a branch line of the Colorado and Southern Railroad to transport the rock.
About 1924, Gibbons and Lawrence Construction Company bought the operation and enlarge the pit to quarry about 2,000 tons per day for concrete aggregate. They dug out a Glory Hole seen today from the top of the mountain on the loop trail. Large, quarried pieces of basalt could drop from the top of the quarry and fall into the Glory Hole, move through a vertical shaft and then to a tunnel to the base of the cliffs. There the material was loaded into a gravity tram and moved down the mountain to the crusher. A .5-mile steep road (“quarry road”) was built from the base to the top of North Table Mountain.
In 1949, the Ralph Rodgers Company expanded the Blake quarry to seven acres. They built a new crusher on the site of today’s Jeffco loop trailhead parking lot. The last, and a short-lived quarry operation, was in 1976 when Western Paving Construction Company processed rock left by the previous quarry operation. Local resident complaints of noise, dust, and truck traffic led to the termination of the operation.
Over the past 40 years North Table Mountain has shifted from mining to a managed open space park. (1)
From North Table Mountain Trail, and/or the North Table Mountain Loop Trail, there are excellent scenic views of the Foothills looking both north and south. There are also views that highlight the Golden Valley and Clear Creek corridor.
For neighborhoods in north Golden, North Table Mountain is a scenic backdrop in residents’ daily lives. This includes seeing seasonal changes of the vegetation. Additionally, North Table Mountain is a dark space at night. Taken together, both North and South Table Mountain mesas have long established a community character that helps define the City of Golden.
Both Golden’s North Table Mountain Trail and the Jefferson County Open Space North Loop Trail provide education opportunities either by guided tours or information signage to tell the stories of the geological and mining history as well as provide information about vegetation and riparian zones, wildlife, and cultural links to Golden’s history.
(1) Anderson, Donna S., and Paul B Haseman (2021). Golden Rocks: The Geology and Mining History of Golden, Colorado. Pub. Golden Colorado. (download at the bottom of the "Accomplishments" page)
Photo Gallery
Downloads
See Stewards’ "Golden Open Space Map" and Map Index downloads below.
The above discussion includes the following locations on the map:
North Table Mountain - number 22 on map and index
In total, eight parcels and approximately 135.5 acres.
Copyright © 2019 Stewards of Golden Open Space - All Rights Reserved.