By Tom Schweich
One of the most heavily used open spaces in Golden contains the Lubahn Trail on South Table Mountain (See: PDF Map of Golden’s Open Space). The City of Golden owns 26.5 acres on the western slope of South Table Mountain. This acreage, along with adjoining Jefferson County Open Space land (about 1,500 acres) creates a striking scenic backdrop for the Golden community.
Like some of our other open spaces, the South Table Mountain open space is pieced together from multiple sources. There are nine pieces; seven are real estate parcels that were acquired by the city between 1991 and 2000. Two pieces are designated Right of Way, but they are on a very steep hillside, and it seems doubtful they would ever be developed as a street. The largest parcel, about 15 acres, was acquired in 2000 from Jefferson County, and is deeded for “public open space, park or recreational purposes.”
There is one trailhead for the city-owned land and an adjacent trailhead for Jefferson County Open Space land. The Lubahn Trail on city land was constructed in 1965-1971 by Jack Lubahn, a metallurgical engineering professor at Colorado School of Mines. It may follow earlier routes used by students of Professor Arthur Lakes, the first professor of geology at the Colorado School of Mines. The Lubahn Trail is still used for geology field trips. While the trail may be rated moderately difficult because it is narrow and gains altitude rapidly, I prefer it to other nearby trails because it is less exposed. With the assistance of Jefferson County Open Space trail staff, the original Lubahn Trail was reconstructed in 2022 to reduce erosion and provide a better trail experience. Castle Rock is private property, but … well … I’m not going to say anything about trespassing.
The geology of South Table Mountain is a continuation of that of North Table Mountain, with the Denver formation composed of basalt flows over sedimentary rocks of river and floodplain deposits. These floodplains were vegetated with palm trees and broad-leaved deciduous tropical species, and fossils of them can be found in the deposits. A tyrannosaurus tooth was once found on South Table Mountain, though the location was on Jefferson County Open Space land near Rimrock Drive.
There is no plant inventory specific to the city-owned South Table Mountain open space, since botanists focus instead on the entire mesa. However, some common plants a visitor might see include: Roundleaf Snowberry, Foothill Death Camas, Net-Leaved Hackberry, Stemless Indian Parsley, Western Prickly Pear, Asparagus, Star Lily, and Missouri Foxtail Cactus.
Trail users typically won’t see wildlife because of the proximity to civilization and heavy trail use, but residents report occasional sightings of mountain lions, deer, coyotes, and rattlesnakes. Birders also report various local species.
The City of Golden’s open space on both North and South Table Mountains are right next to much larger parcels of Jefferson County Open Space. Sometimes I wonder why the City of Golden would manage our little bit of open space differently than Jefferson County manages their adjacent and much larger open space. Just something to think about as Golden develops it first Open Space Master Plan.
References
Anderson, Donna S., and Paul B. Haseman (2021), Golden Rocks: The Geology and Mining History of Golden, Colorado. https://repository.mines.edu/handle/11124/14162
Stewards of Golden Open Space. 2019-2024. South Table Mountain open space/lubahn trail. Date retrieved: 23 November 2024. https://stewardsofgolden.org/south-table-mountain%2Flu The history of the Lubahn Trail was written by Preston Driggers from Golden Transcript articles.
