Tom Schweich  

Introduction

There are many sources of information about plant names, their descriptions, and how to identify them. There are numerous published floras for the whole state of Colorado, Colorado east slope and west slope, and the Intermountain Region, not to mention the less-scholarly wildflower books. The various data bases will permit preparation of plant lists for a location, or a range of geographic coordinates, will also giving link to further web sites such as Flora of North America (FNANM) an Encyclopedia of Life. These are all excellent resources. I used them all myself in the preparation of this flora. Data base lists selected by geographic coordinates, and those selected by named localities, were used to provide an initial list of collections. The published floras of larger regions were used to check on names, descriptions, and distribution.

However, the editing process of reviewing collections, and reviewing the absence of collections, provides the benefits that come from preparing a local flora:

1. Apply local knowledge of geography to collections, their name determinations, and georeferencing. Living in a location can give a better understanding of local geography, and the location of historic reference points. This makes it easier to compare georeferencing to described collecting location.

2. Identify questionable collections or determinations. Some examples might be:
   1. A collection dated 1822 from Golden, although Golden was not named until 1859. This turned out to be an E. L. Greene collection from 1872.
   2. A collection to which two different names have been applied. For example, E. H. Brunquist's PM-123 is determined as Cirsium undulatum (Nutt.) Spreng at KHD, and C. ochrocentrum A. Gray at CS. The thing to do is to look at both vouchers and determine which name should be applied, or whether the collection was really a mixed collection.
   3. A little more subtle case occurs when there are many single collections a related taxa. For example, among Oenothera and Gaura (which is sometimes placed in Oenothera), there are nine taxa for which there is only one collection in Golden and vicinity, and the remaining four taxa collected here have only two collections each. It seems unusual that there would be so many single collections of a taxon, and perhaps some of them are misidentified.

3. Identify gaps in collections. Why hasn't an expected common species found in a certain area?

   For example, I found what I thought was Brickellia californica on North Table Mountain. Yet my data base searches yielded no records of collections. Searching again for all collections of B. californica in Jefferson and surrounding counties showed a single collection of the taxon by Loraine Yeatts on South Table Mountain. However, the collection had been georeferenced incorrectly and would not have appeared in a simple data base query. I have added that collection (and taxon name) to the local flora, and sent a comment to the herbarium about the incorrect coordinates.

4. Fill in gaps in collections, collect in under-collected areas, or of under-collected plants.

   For example, mapping the locations of collections that can be georeferenced showed that there are few collections from the lower slopes of Lookout Mountain and no collections from the small northern portion of Dinosaur Ridge near the Rooney Road Sports Complex. These areas may now be targeted for collecting.

5. Identify plants that may have been extirpated, or may be new arrivals.

   An example might be my collection 1109 of Balsamorhiza sagittata on Tin Cup Ridge. Usually this plant is described as being on the west slope only. How did it get here to the east slope? Generally, it is suggested that it was planted. But, was it intentionally planted in an out of the way place? Or planted by a bird? Or other animal?

6. Understand the history of botanic or floristic work in a local area. Who collected? Why?

In the case of unpublished volumes of FNANM, I generally reviewed multiple sources, starting with Ackerfield (2015), the Plant List (http://www.theplantlist.org/), USDA Plants, the Jepson Manual, Weber and Wittmann (2012), and Harrington (1954), and then picked a modern name in common usage.

However, over time, I began to follow Plants of the World (POWO, 2022) as it seemed to the most broad and up-to-date coverage. Plants of the World also connects to the historical literature through IPNI - International Plant Names Index and the Biodiversity Heritage Library.

Once a name is selected, different names given in Ackerfield (2015, 2022 2nd ed.), Weber and Wittmann (2012), or Harrington (1954), are listed as synonyms.

Geography

Golden City Limits

Within the City of Golden, there are a few parcels that are city-owned, and large enough to be collected. The Fossil Trace Golf Course occupies 216 ac. (87 ha.). It is not really a hotbed of biodiversity, but the elk like to hang out there in the winter. City-owned open space on the west and south slopes of North Table Mountain comprises 135 ac. (54 ha.). Eagle Ridge is the third largest parcel at 79 ac. (32 ha.) and the Grampsas Sport Complex contains 58 ac. (24 ha.). There is a small hilly parcel near the top of Washington Avenue of 4 ac. (1.6 ha.). This last parcel is perhaps the most interesting as it contains a relatively intact small (1.5 ac.) remnant mixed-grass prairie on the top of the hill. Some of these spaces are currently being redefined as City of Golden Open Space under the Open Space Master Plan project (September 2024 - May 2025).

Golden sensu latu (s.l.)

Investigations into the flora of Golden s.l. were made in a combination of City of Golden Open Space, Jefferson County Open Space, city parks and natural areas, and to a much lesser extent rights-of-way. The Colorado School of Mines Survey Field is publicly-owned but not public open space.

Most of the investigation has occurred in city and county open space. In some cases the distinction between those spaces can be complicated. For example, “North Table Mountain“ contains both Jefferson County and City of Golden open space.

City parks contain sports fields, playgrounds, turf areas, and natural areas. Generally only natural areas are investigated as to flora. There are some exceptions, though, such as turf areas that have been investigated for Longspine Sandbur (Cenchrus longispinus (Hack.) Fern.)

North Table Mountain

There are two commonly used social trails leading to North Table Mountain. One is off Dunraven Circle in Table Rock. The other is at Easley Road and Colorado Highway 58.

The Dunraven Circle social trail is quite handy. Short, only 160 meters in length, it gives easy access to the North Table Loop, and then there is only another 245 meters to the Mesa Top Trail. It is, of course, signed “No Trespassing.” In theory, there is an access point to the Tablerock Trail from Tablerock Subdivision about 430 m. to the northeast. This access point can accessed from either Dunraven Circle or Devil's Head Circle by way of a concrete multiuse trail. Unfortunately, that trail is also signed “No Trespassing.”

The author led Colorado Native Plant Society field trips to North Table Mountain in 2016, 2017, and 2019. The plant lists from those field trips are kept constantly up to date by this web site. See Plant Check List for North Table Mountain, Jefferson County, United States.

North Hogback Open Space Dakota Ridge and Cressman Gulch

The south end of Dakota Ridge and the adjacent Cressman Gulch is in the very northern part of Golden. Several names have been applied to this open space, including Dakota Ridge. The name was applied by Van Horn (1957) in Bedrock Geology of the Golden Quadrangle. “Dakota Ridge” is also sometimes applied to the corresponding hogback south of Golden. However, through the Open Space Master Planning process, the name North Hogback Open Space is currently proposed for this hogback.

Regardless of the naming question, Cressman Gulch and the Dakota Ridge hogback above it measure to be 28 acres. The eastern portion, about 7.5 acres, is likely to be used for the relocation of Colorado Highway 93 sometime in the future. The remaining 21 acres is primarily contributed by the south end of the hogback. There are open mines on the hogback, which are fenced, and not open to access by the public.

There is no historic botanic data for Dakota Ridge. The author made about 54 collections in 2020, and combined with additional observations, there are 86 plant species known from the ridge and adjacent gulch.

One collection is of particular interest. It is Linaria canadensis (L.) Dum.-Cours. Var. texana (Scheele) Pennell, with a common name of “Blue Toadflax.” A commonly used synonym for this plant is Nuttallanthus texanus (Scheele) D. A. Sutton. This name was proposed by Sutton (1988) to separate the new world Linaria from the old world Linaria. However, recent phylogenetic work (Fernandez-Mazuecos, et al., 2013) shows that the new world plants need to be retained in the old world genus Linaria. There is historic collection made along the railroad tracks in Golden from more than a century ago. More recently, it was collected at Rocky Flats and White Ranch.

Coll. No. 2077, Linaria canadensis var. texana

Tucker Gulch

Tucker Gulch and the lower part of Cressman Gulch, i.e., south and east of Colorado Highway 93, form a kind of linear open space, if the term “open space” can be applied to a long narrow shape. While much of the lower part of Tucker Gulch is still railroad right of way, the portion owned by the City of Golden is 34 acres. Tucker Gulch between the highway and Clear Creek is about 3.2 km. in length, and Cressman Gulch from the highway to the mouth at Tucker Gulch is about 1.5 km. in length. When combined with the railroad land, the width varies from a minimum of 17 m. to a maximum of 109 m., although generally the width is about 30 to 50 m.

Tucker Gulch is named after Alfred Tucker who moved with his wife to Golden in 1859 from Illinois. It originally included a toll road and a railroad, but now it is reduced to a long narrow linear space between Golden neighborhoods. The city-owned portion of Tucker Gulch from Clear Creek up to Colorado Highway 93 is about a mile and a quarter in length, while the width varies from 50 to 275 feet. The total area is about 21 acres in 18 to 29 separate parcels of land, depending on how one counts.

Tucker Gulch has an important Public Works function as a flood channel draining Golden Gate Canyon and, to a lesser extent, Cressman Gulch. It has been the scene of eighteen recorded floods between August 1, 1869, and most recently May 7, 1973 (Anonymous, n.d.; White and Chapman, 2014). Tucker Gulch is also a convenient place for utilities serving adjacent neighborhoods, such as water and sewer lines, and it contains both, though they are well disguised.

Cressman Gulch is about 5.9 acres in size and made up of 8 parcels of land that are typically 50 to 75 feet in width. Primarily used for flood control, utilities, and drainage, there is also a city-owned concrete trail along part of Cressman Gulch.

Composite photo of Tucker Gulch.

Tucker Gulch, especially, also has some attractive recreational values. The Tucker Gulch Trail winds alongside a perennial stream aligned with groves of established trees, shrubs and grasses. There are numerous access points: 7th Street, 1st Street, North Ford Street (at Norman D. Park) and Mesa Drive. There is little traffic noise providing trail users with a peaceful nature experience. The wider parts of Tucker Gulch have places for peace and solitude. Birds and wildlife are common in Tucker Gulch. Bears, moose and, sometimes, mountain lions are reported in Tucker Gulch on social media. On a recent morning, a friend and I saw an 8-point buck just north of 1st Street, and a pair of flickers feeding on the ground beside the trail.

The vegetation in Tucker Gulch is quite weedy. There are only a few collections made in Tucker Gulch and of them only one is native: Heterotheca villosa “Hairy False Goldenaster.” Among the non-native plants, one, Alopecurus arundinaceus “Creeping Meadow Foxtail” is an uncommon grass in Jefferson County, and therefore at least mildly interesting.

Like a lot of places in Golden, Tucker Gulch and Cressman Gulch have their problems with weeds, yard waste disposal, and social trails, which do not negate the recreational value of the gulches.

At North Ford Street, the Tucker Gulch Trail passes through Norman D. Park where there is water and a restroom (OK … a Port-A-Potty). As it happens, the city’s land also includes a strip on the north side of the creek that is 50 to 100 feet wide. This strip was originally planned for a street connecting Golden Gate Drive to Mesa Drive. Since this connecting street has never been constructed, perhaps it could be added to the open space in Tucker Gulch.

Neither Tucker Gulch nor Cressman Gulch are typical plots of land that one thinks of as “open space.” Neither are they parks. But they both have significant recreational values in addition to Public Works purposes. It seems to me that our Open Space Master Plan needs to acknowledge these linear open spaces and define how our Public Works and Parks & Recreation departments jointly manage them for our present and future enjoyment.

Schweich Hill

The little piece of City of Golden open space at the north end of Washington Avenue, near Cannonball Creek Brewery, measures 4 acres. Tracts A & B of the parcel was accepted by the City of Golden by Resolution No. 516, adopted December 23, 1993. Both tracts are dedicated as open space, although Tract B was also dedicated for W470 expansion.

North Washington Open Space as seen from North Table Mountain	View of North Washington Open Space from Mount Galbraith

Feld trips sponsored by Colorado Native Plant Society visited the open space parcel in 2018 and again in 2022.

There are 136 taxa (species of plants) in 42 plant families, mostly grasses and forbs (non-woody perennials). None of the plants collected or observed are Colorado-ranked rare plants (Colorado Natural Heritage Program, 1997+). There are 13 species of Colorado-listed Noxious Weeds (Colorado Department of Agriculture, 2014-2019). There is one species on List A, Euphorbia myrsinites L. “Myrtle Spurge,” and seven List B species. At least one species of noxious weed, Dipsacus laciniata, has not been seen for several years due to repeated weeding.

A small portion covering the top of the hill, about 1.5 acres in size, could be identified as Western Great Plains Foothill and Piedmont Grassland with mixed tall and short grass species. Significantly sized other portions, would be identified as Smooth Brome (Bromus inermis Leyss) Ruderal Vegetation.

There is substantial disturbance around the edges of the parcel. Disturbance includes grading, water lines or other utilities, construction, landscaping or revegetation, yard debris disposal and mowing by neighbors, and social trails and amenities. It is unclear when the water line was placed across the parcel, but the current vault appears in 7/4/2005 imagery. The center of the open space is less-disturbed, where the primary disturbances are social trails and amenities.

There are four easily identifiable social trails crossing all or part of the parcels. The primary social trail crosses the parcels east to west across the top of the hill. This trail bisects the area of remnant native vegetation on the top of the hill and is frequently used by hikers, dog walkers, and by a few mountain bikes. The opportunities for rerouting this trail away from the native vegetation, while still permitting access to the top of the hill, seem quite limited. The trail is eroding on the stepest slope at the eastern slope of the hill. There is one social amenity, i.e., a bench near the top of the hill. The bench and associated access trail first appear in 10/7/2012 imagery. The access trail to this bench passes perilously close to several individual plants of Missouri Foxtail Cactus.

The top of the hill is occasionally used for picnics or similar activities as evidenced from a rather large trampled area. I have even encountered a wedding photography party on top to the hill. Unfortunately, the trampled area is at the center of the best native vegetation. This causes damage to the small area of native prairie and indicates why the trail needs to be signed with a plea for users to remain on the trail.

I keep a separate report about this open space, which can be found on my home page with a title of “Botanical Resources of Schweich Hill, Golden, Colorado.”

South Table Mountain

Castle Rock from Lubahn Trail trailhead

• Lubahn Trail, Belvedere at 18th, Belvedere at 19th.
• Fossil Trail, on Golden Hills Road.
• Camp George West Park.

• West Denver West Parkway.
• Old Quarry Road.

• Lookout View Drive.
• Rimrock Drive.
• Quaker Street.

Lookout Mountain

Only the eastern-facing slopes of Lookout Mountain are covered by this checklist flora.

Land ownership (1,221 ac.) is primarily Jefferson County Open Space for Windy Saddle Park, Apex Open Space Park, Lookout Mountain Nature Center, and small portion of Matthews/Winters Park. Denver Parks owns a large parcel (69 ac.) on top of Lookout Mountain. Martin Marietta is the largest private landowner for their quarry, followed by the Missionary Sisters of the Sacred Heart (Mother Cabrini Shrine).

Colorado School of Mines Survey Field

The next largest single parcel is the Colorado School of Mines Survey Field. It consists of 2 parcels totaling about 226 acres. At the upper, west side, it abuts Lookout Mountain.

Though owned by a public agency, the Survey Field is not really open to the public, in the sense of a public park or open space. The school needs to know who in on their property, and to cover themselves for liability issues.

The Survey Field has been disturbed by roads, mining, and utilities. It is also quite weedy in places. Regardless, it is a unique piece of open space in Golden, given its size, and its place between Golden and Lookout Mountain.

Kinney Run / Deadman Gulch

The City of Golden-owned parcels in the vicinity of Eagle Ridge (a small hogback), Deadman Gulch, Kinney Run, and Heritage Dells comprise about 90 acres. There are also some city-owned watercourses near the south-west end of those shown on this map.

Of the four names applied to this area, only two: Deadman Gulch and Heritage Dells, are recognized by the U.S. Board on Geographic Names (BGN, n.d.). The source for “Kinney Run” is unknown, but is probably a euphemism used by developers for Deadman Gulch. The original source may be “Kenneys Creek” found on the 1938 Morrison quadrangle applied to a creek flowing north along present-day Johnson Avenue, then northwest along South Golden Road. Similarly, the source for “Eagle Ridge” is also unknown, but was probably chosen by real estate developers in the area.

City of Golden-owned Parcels in the vicinity of Kinney Run

South and west of Eagle Ridge is the heart of Deadman Gulch/Kinney Run. A little over 31 acres, this parcel is oriented north-south, and fairly narrow from east to west.

Kinney Run in early Spring.	View of Kinney Run in early Spring.

The vegetation of Kinney Run is a mosaic of Foothills Shrubland and Riparian, with some remnant Mixed-Grass Prairie. Despite the extensive disturbance and planting of non-natives, many native grasses and forbs (non-woody perennials) can still be found in Kinney Run. Roundtip Twinpod (Physaria vitulifera) and Front Range Beardtongue (Penstemon virens) bloom in the spring on the rock outcrops of the Lyons Sandstone along with Mountain Mahogany (Cercocarpus montanus). Green Needlegrass (Nassella viridula) and Needle and Thread (Hesperostipa comata) are found around the edges of the Chokecherry (Prunus virginiana) thickets below the cliffs. The wetter areas near the creek support both Golden Currant (Ribes aureum) and Wax Currant (R. cereum), along with Wild Bergamot (Monarda fistulosa) and the Cloaked Bulrush (Scirpus pallidus). The drier slopes opposite Eagle Ridge support many examples of remnant Prairie vegetation, such as Prairie Groundsel (Packera plattensis), Cowboy Delight (Sphaeralcea coccinea), and Blanketflower (Gaillardia aristata).

Kinney Run South

Kinney Run South is a middle-size open space, as Golden open space goes, that is squeezed in, east to west, between the Lakota Hills neighborhood and Shelton School and, north to south, Tripp Ranch and Heritage Dells Park.

The largest part of Kinney Run South, about 8 acres, was acquired by the city when the Tripp Ranch neighborhood was platted in early 1993. It was known then as Tract C of Tripp Ranch and dedicated for “open space/drainage purposes.” There are some other little parcels, such as part of Tripp Ranch, Tract D, and part of Lakota Hills (1986) plat, Tract B that could be considered part of the Kinney Run South Open Space. If those spaces are included, then Kinney Run South is close to 10 acres.

The rocks of Kinney Run South are primarily Permian-age Lyons Formation, roughly 270-285 million years of age with alluvial deposits along the stream of Kinney Run. The cliffs in Kinney Run South are formed by Lyons Sandstone (Anderson & Haseman, 2021).

The plants in Kinney Run South are the common grasses and shrubs we find around Golden. There are two interesting plants found right up against the cliffs formed by the Lyons Sandstone. One of them is Rubus deliciosus Torr., the “delicious raspberry.” It was described from collections that Dr. Edwin James made in 1820 somewhere along the Front Range. The joke, of course, is that the delicious raspberry can be described as “insipid at best.”

While surveying the vegetation of Kinney Run with the Colorado Natural Heritage Program in 2021, Scribner’s Needlegrass —Eriocoma scribneri (Vasey) Romasch, was found in the soft soil at the base of the cliffs (Sovell & Panjabi, 2021). Kinney Run South is the only place this grass has been found in or near Golden. The nearest other collections are found at Rocky Flats and at Chatfield Farms, two of the most studied pieces of ground in Colorado.

Like other Golden open spaces, Kinney Run South has its problems. While walking in the open space I found discarded tree limbs, a dead bicycle, and a wheel-less desk chair, all apparently yeeted over the cliffs. [Def: yeet. v. To throw something forcefully, often with enthusiasm.]

Even in dead of winter, the Kinney Run Trail is popular for a daily walk. Away from busy streets there is little traffic noise, and the open space is quiet, punctuated by the cheerful shouts of Shelton School students at recess.

In south Golden, three parallel gulches form the Heritage Dells Open Space. Over thousands of years, water running off the southeastern sides of Lookout Mountain eroded away sediments to shape the sloped grasslands and gulches where the Great Plains meet the Rocky Mountains.

Two of the gulches were deeded to the city by the Heritage Dells subdivision and one by the Tripp Ranch subdivision. Together they establish the southern beginnings of Kinney Run.

In the late 1970s and early 1980s, Pulte Homes and other builders constructed homes adjacent to the existing gulches and dedicated them for drainage and open space. All three gulches begin in Apex Park. The southernmost gulch enters Golden between two houses on DeFrance Way, widens into a large gulch, and then passes under Crawford Court and into Heritage Dells Park.

The middle gulch enters Golden about 1½ blocks farther north on the west side of De France Drive. Passing under the street, water flows into a wide gulch also entering Heritage Dells Park. At this point, the two gulches join to form Kinney Run. Significantly, a lot of rain and snow melt in the neighborhood also flows into the gulches due to the sloped hillsides.

The northernmost gulch enters Golden through a culvert under DeFrance Drive and forms a medium-sized gulch between Tripp Ranch houses. Passing under Shelton School, it joins the other gulches just below the Kinney Run Trail bridge.

The northernmost gulch enters Golden through a culvert under DeFrance Drive and forms a medium-sized gulch between Tripp Ranch houses. Passing under Shelton School, it joins the other gulches just below the Kinney Run Trail bridge.

Gravels and clays in the gulches help to clean both surface and subsurface water and support trickles of water in dry seasons that often go unnoticed yet support diverse vegetation.

The grass and shrubs in the gulches are common Foothills shrubs and mixed grass prairie. However, there have been no biological surveys of the gulches, so it is not known if rare plants may be present.

All three gulches provide wildlife habitat and corridors for both hunters and prey. Over the years, species such as white-tailed deer, elk, bobcat, fox, mountain lion, coyotes, bull snakes, garter snakes, and rattlesnakes, as well as an occasional brown bear, have been observed in the neighborhoods. Additionally, there are a variety of rabbits, brown bats, and birds.

There are no trails through these three gulches, although the original plat for Heritage Dells calls for an equestrian trail through the south gulch. The main trail in the area is the Kinney Run Trail, and parts of the gulches can be seen from this trail.

For residents, these gulches provide visual and physical open space buffers and collectively serve as neighborhood open spaces, which are shown to be important for personal health and for the movement of wildlife.

Tin Cup Ridge

Tin Cup Ridge is the northward extension of Dinosaur Ridge into Golden. Interstate 70 cuts through Dinosaur Ridge and separates the two parts of the ridge.

The easiest way to access Tin Cup Ridge is from the Rooney Road Sports Complex.

At the south end, Tin Cup Ridge can also be accessed from the T-Rex Park and Ride Lot. And, for the truly intrepid, it is possible to access Tin Cup Ridge from the north, through the Wrigley's Chicago Bar & Grill parking lot from the intersection of Colfax Avenue and Zeta Street. It was necessary to use this entrance when the Rooney Road Sports Complex was closed because of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Panorama of Rooney Road Sports Complex and Tin Cup Ridge

Matthews/Winters Park

There is a small portion of Matthews/Winters Park that is north of Interstate 70, and just south of the Golden city limits. This area is not open to the public.

Apex Park

Apex Park is about 700 acres. Of those, about 500 acres are within the City of Golden. The larger southern portion of the park is heavily used and a popular destination for hiking and mountain biking. There is a smaller northern portion of the park that is closed for resource protection.

There is one trailhead and two other access points to Apex Park. The trailhead is on Heritage Road near Colfax Avenue. The access points are on Lookout Mountain Road and Poco Calle Road. They have minimal parking and no facilities.

Some clever map-reading will disclose other ways to enter Apex Park. However, doing so is difficult without crossing private property or inadvertently entering the restricted area.

Tony Grampsas Memorial Sports Complex

The City of Golden acquired the land now known as Tony Grampsas Memorial Sports Complex from Jefferson County Open Space in 1999. Coors Brewing Company originally developed the park for company softball tournaments, and, in 2000, the 63-acre park was named after Tomy Grampsas, a former Coors employee and strong advocate for parks and recreation in the State Legislature. Today, the park provides a location for several unique City of Golden amenities including softball fields, a gymnasium, a dog park, archery range, a mountain bike park, and, most recently, four new pickleball courts.

A week ago, Saturday, I went out to look at the Grampsas North Open Space. The first thing I noticed, being a beautiful fall Saturday, was that the parking lot at Grampsas Park was completely full. I found a narrow slot to squeeze my car into and set off to find the open space. Past the pickleball courts, off to the right of the archery range, through the dog park, and up the hill from the New Terrain Brewery (not actually on city property), I found the bike park across the Church Ditch. From the bike park, Grampsas North stretches out to the north. See photos, above.

It is basically a rectangular field about 6½ acres in size, perhaps depending on where the lines are drawn. It is fenced on three sides. The west side is bounded by rural housing and several neighbors who came out for a friendly conversation. The north side has a recent housing development. The east side is bounded by the Church Ditch and the Tony Grampsas Trail, which lines both sides of the ditch. There are cottonwood trees along the ditch. . There might some opportunity for enhancement (I really don’t want to say “development”) of the trail along the Church Ditch, somewhat like the work of the High Line Canal Conservancy.

The vegetation of Grampsas North is western great plains grassland. The plants present are about 2/3 common Golden natives and about 1/3 weeds, a proportion typically seen around Golden. There are a few noxious weeds. I found a few of the uncommon “Dwarf Rabbitbrush” — Ericameria nauseosa var. nauseosa. It is not really a dwarf, just a naturally small plant. It’s big brother that I like to call “Goldy-Locks,” variety graveolens, is also common in Grampsas North. Both of these prairie plants were first scientifically described from collections by the Lewis & Clark Corps of Discovery in 1804-1806. A small thicket in the center of Grampsas North has hackberry, chokecherry, and American plum, though none of them are large enough to make shade.

There are the usual deer and elk signs (i.e., poop), and I scared up a few rabbits. The neighbors told me they frequently see hawks in the cottonwood trees, probably eyeing the rabbits and squirrels for dinner.

The view from Grampsas North is the east side of North Table Mountain with numerous mountain bikes and parties of hikers on a pretty fall afternoon

Grampsas North is not the perfect little open space we typically think of when we talk about open space, but perhaps it presents an opportunity to set aside some of our land for the animals and some quiet contemplation. How it develops through the master plan process will be interesting. The weather forecast for the next few days is warm and dry. Go have a look at Grampsas North and prepare your thoughts for the master plan team.

Grant Terry Open Space

CSM Paraglider Landing Area

Parfet Open Space

The City of Golden owns about 14 acres of open space that wraps around the north end of the Parfet Estates neighborhood and overlooks US Highway 6. The land is bordered by the neighborhood, US Highway 6 right of way and Colorado School of Mines land that contains the Chimney Gulch Trail.

Golden acquired this property as part of the Parfet Estates Subdivision in 1994 for “… streets, open space, utilities, and drainage …” It was designated “Parfet Open Space Park” by City of Golden Resolution No. 1573 in 2005. (This is different from Parfet Park at the corner of Washington Avenue and 10th Street.)

While the defunct Welch Ditch crosses this land, the only other “facility” found on city land is a windsock to help the parasailers land safely.

An unmarked trailhead on Parfet Estates Drive leads to a social trail from the neighborhood down to the Chimney Gulch Trail located on Jefferson County Open Space land. This trail continues upward to Windy Gap and Lookout Mountain.

Parfet Open Space Park contains a mix of disturbed and undisturbed land with some remnants of native vegetation, notably Winter Fat. Winter Fat — Krascheninnikovia lanata (Pursh) A. D. J. Meeuse & Smit. — is named after Stepan Krasheninnikov, 1711-1755, a Russian botanist, professor in Saint Petersburg, and explorer of Siberia and Kamchatka in the early 18th century. The genus is the Chenopodiaceae, the Goosefoot family, which comes from the Greek words "chen" meaning "goose" and "pous" meaning "foot," because the leaves are often shaped like a goose foot. This family is interesting to me because they show the biogeographical connection of western North America to the steppes of eastern Eurasia.

There are abundant signs (i.e., poop) of elk and other large mammals in Parfet Open Space Park, though seeing them may be uncommon because of the adjacent busy highway.

From the site, there are excellent scenic views of the Rocky Mountain foothills, North and South Table Mountains, and north through Golden Valley.

Nearby Areas Excluded

There are a few lists available for Green Mountain. The most recent is Yeatts & Yeatts (2009).

Geology

Golden sits roughly in the center of the Rocky Mountain Front. This long, straight, persistent structural boundary originated between 1.4 and 1.1 billion years ago in the Mesoproterozoic Era. It was intruded by the Pikes Peak granite (1.09 billion years) in central Colorado. The Rocky Mountain Front began as a boundary between thick cratonic lithosphere to the east (modern coordinates) and an orogenic plateau to the west and remains so today. The structural boundary was reactivated during the breakup of the supercontinent Rodinia (1.1 to 0.6 billion years ago) and again during deformation associated with formation of both the Ancestral (≈300 Ma) and Laramide (80-40 Ma) Rocky Mountains. The landscape we now see was enhanced during the late Miocene to Holocene (ca. 6–0 Ma) by tectonic uplift. Increased monsoonal precipitation caused differential erosion along the mountain front, exhuming an imposing 0.5– 1.2 km escarpment that is bordered by hogbacks of Mesozoic strata and incised by major river canyons. The hogbacks do not occur in central Golden as they are cut off by the Golden fault. However, there are hogbacks in both north and south Golden s.l., i.e, Dakota Ridge in the north, and Tin Cup Ridge in the south.

Soils

Soils in the Golden area were enumerated in Price and Amen (2001, 2008 rev.). Seventy-nine different soil types are recognized in Golden sensu latu

Vegetation of Golden

There are three basic types of vegetation in Golden s.l.:

• Mixed-grass prairie.
• Foothill shrubland.
• Riparian or wetland vegetation.

I haven’t used formal names, such as those found in the National Vegetation Classification System (USNVC, 2019), because none of the areas in Golden s.l. have received the formal attention and documentation required for a more formal definition.

View similar to the historic view of Golden.	View of north Golden 1870-1880. Countesy of Denver Public Library.

• Heterotheca villosa (Hairy False Goldenaster),
• Oxytropis lambertii (Purple Locoweed),
• Penstemon secundiflorus (Sidebells Beardtongue), and
• Viola nuttallii (Nuttall’s Violet).

Shrubs are represented on the prairie by Ribes cereum (Wax Currant) and Prunus virginiana (Chokecherry).

In the watercourses, such as Tucker Gulch and Arapahoe Gulch, is a riparian vegetation consisting of willows and cottonwoods (Salix spp.), with sedges (Carex sp.) and rushes (Juncus sp.), and sometimes cat tails (Typha sp.).

Away from the valley bottoms, on the slopes of North and South Table Mountains and Mount Galbraith is a foothill shrubland. These can be very dry and exposed favoring Cercocarpus montanus (Alder-Leaf Mountain Mahogany). A little more mesic habitat favors shrubs such as Rhus trilobata (Squawbush) and Prunus americana (American Plum). The small watercourses may support Acer glabrum (Rocky Mountain Maple) and Physocarpus monogynus (Mountain Ninebark).

Of course, the boundaries between these vegetation types are rarely sharp, and representatives of one vegetation type will often be found growing with representatives of another type.

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