Tom Schweich  

Junction: Social Trail, into a small open space and to N. Columbine St.

Hillside Community Church

Southwest face of North Table Mountain	View down the southwest face of North Table Mountain

Field Trip Stop 15 — North Table Mountain Rockfall Area — of Noe, et al. (1999) forms in the parking lot of the Hillside Community Church at 103 N. Ford Street.

The rockfall and landslide hazard area around North Table Mountain was mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey during the 1970s (Simpson, 1973a; 1973b). Jefferson County has adopted the mapped hazard area as part of its geologic-hazards overlay, and has considered it to be a “no-build” area. This was challenged in the 1980s by a developer, who staged an actual rock-rolling demonstration on the northwest flank of the mountain in order to prove the fallacy of the outer (distal) hazard-area boundaries. The demonstration was curtailed (and the subdivision application was subsequently denied) after several boulders rolled beyond the outer boundary, but not before one boulder had bounced at least 10 feet (3 m) into the air and knocked a cross-bar off a high-tension power-line tower at the base of the mountain.

The rockfall hazard area, as mapped by the USGS, exists in both unincorporated Jefferson County and the incorporated city of Golden. Unfortunately, protection of the public from the rockfall hazard does appear to stop at the jurisdictional boundary in this case. The houses we see on the hillside above are located within the city of Golden, which has not adopted Simpson’s map. This subdivision was approved and has expanded due the absence of any requirements for home-rule cities to follow the state-mandated, geologic-hazard review process for subdivisions.

Alley: between 1st St and 2nd St

• 14th Street
• Jackson Street, one way southbound to Jackson Street from Ford and 14th Street.

Bonfire Burritos