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South Table Mountain (Colorado)
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South Table Mountain (Colorado)
South Table Mountain is a mesa on the eastern flank of the Front Range of the Rocky Mountains of North America. Castle Rock, the 6,338-foot (1,932 m) summit of the mesa, is located on private property in Jefferson County, Colorado, 0.56 miles (0.9 km) directly east (bearing 90°) of downtown Golden.
The most distinctive feature of the mesa is its nearly flat cap that is formed by ancient Paleocene lava flows. It is separated from companion North Table Mountain, which consists of the same geologic formation, by Clear Creek.
South Table Mountain is a popular scenic and recreational destination in the Denver metro area, and most of it is preserved as Jefferson County Open Space. Its landmark prominence is Castle Rock, a small higher butte that projects from the mesa's northwest end.
South Table Mountain is underlain by sedimentary rocks of the Denver Formation, which spans the interval from latest Cretaceous to early Paleocene time. An exposure of the Cretaceous-Paleogene boundary layer has been identified and documented on its slopes.
Two prominent, columnar jointed, cliff-forming lava flows form the nearly flat cap on South Table Mountain. The Ralston Dike, a body of intrusive monzonite located about 4 miles to the northwest, probably 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 latite, or as shoshonite. They contain the minerals augite, plagioclase, and olivine altered to serpentine, with accessory sanidine, orthoclase, apatite, magnetite, and biotite.
Both North and South Table Mountain are known for the wide variety of zeolite minerals [1] that occur in vesicles in the second flow. These include analcime, thomsonite, mesolite, chabazite, and others. Excellent specimens of Table Mountain zeolites can be seen at the nearby Mines Museum of Earth Science.
In times far past, South Table Mountain was ascended and used by American Indian tribes of the region, and archaeological remains are known to exist on its top. A piece of grape shot thought to be from either Spanish explorers or 1830s fur traders was found by Arthur Lakes on the mesa top in April 1895. The earliest recorded ascent of the mesa was by Thomas L. Golden and other gold rushers while hunting during the Colorado Gold Rush on February 14, 1859. In 1906, father and son William H. and Clyde L. Ashworth built the original Castle Rock Resort, a cafe atop Castle Rock, where visitors were taken by burro up a trail on the north flank of Castle Rock. After vandalism destroyed it in 1907, the venture was abandoned until Charles F. Quaintance revived it in 1908 with a new cafe and burro train and a road from the south slope built by Harry Hartzell. This was supplemented in 1913 with a lighthouse, dance hall and funicular incline railway to the top. Business faded with the advent of the Denver Mountain Parks, and the funicular rails were salvaged for the allied effort in World War I in 1918. The idle resort was taken over by the Ku Klux Klan in 1923 as a major meeting and ceremonial place of its regional membership, during its rise to power in Colorado. This continued until the mid-1920s, after which it reverted to resort use as Lava Lane, and became idle again by 1926. The resort burned to the ground in an arson fire in 1927. During the 1910s-1920s, the city of Denver quarried gravel from the mountain's northeast alcove. In 1935, the Works Progress Administration built the Colorado Amphitheater for Camp George West on its southern side. Developers in 1957 originally wanted to build the Magic Mountain theme park at its northeastern alcove, until residents of Applewood protested and convinced them to build elsewhere. Subsequent attempts to develop or quarry the mountain including condominiums and a corporate headquarters continued through the remainder of the 20th century, and the mesa was gradually purchased or placed under easement by Jefferson County for open space. Today, much of South Table Mountain is open to the public, while southern portions are occupied by the Colorado State Patrol and National Renewable Energy Laboratory.[citation needed]
Although not necessarily recorded on United States Geological Survey maps, several historically named features are part of South Table Mountain:
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South Table Mountain (Colorado)
South Table Mountain is a mesa on the eastern flank of the Front Range of the Rocky Mountains of North America. Castle Rock, the 6,338-foot (1,932 m) summit of the mesa, is located on private property in Jefferson County, Colorado, 0.56 miles (0.9 km) directly east (bearing 90°) of downtown Golden.
The most distinctive feature of the mesa is its nearly flat cap that is formed by ancient Paleocene lava flows. It is separated from companion North Table Mountain, which consists of the same geologic formation, by Clear Creek.
South Table Mountain is a popular scenic and recreational destination in the Denver metro area, and most of it is preserved as Jefferson County Open Space. Its landmark prominence is Castle Rock, a small higher butte that projects from the mesa's northwest end.
South Table Mountain is underlain by sedimentary rocks of the Denver Formation, which spans the interval from latest Cretaceous to early Paleocene time. An exposure of the Cretaceous-Paleogene boundary layer has been identified and documented on its slopes.
Two prominent, columnar jointed, cliff-forming lava flows form the nearly flat cap on South Table Mountain. The Ralston Dike, a body of intrusive monzonite located about 4 miles to the northwest, probably 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 latite, or as shoshonite. They contain the minerals augite, plagioclase, and olivine altered to serpentine, with accessory sanidine, orthoclase, apatite, magnetite, and biotite.
Both North and South Table Mountain are known for the wide variety of zeolite minerals [1] that occur in vesicles in the second flow. These include analcime, thomsonite, mesolite, chabazite, and others. Excellent specimens of Table Mountain zeolites can be seen at the nearby Mines Museum of Earth Science.
In times far past, South Table Mountain was ascended and used by American Indian tribes of the region, and archaeological remains are known to exist on its top. A piece of grape shot thought to be from either Spanish explorers or 1830s fur traders was found by Arthur Lakes on the mesa top in April 1895. The earliest recorded ascent of the mesa was by Thomas L. Golden and other gold rushers while hunting during the Colorado Gold Rush on February 14, 1859. In 1906, father and son William H. and Clyde L. Ashworth built the original Castle Rock Resort, a cafe atop Castle Rock, where visitors were taken by burro up a trail on the north flank of Castle Rock. After vandalism destroyed it in 1907, the venture was abandoned until Charles F. Quaintance revived it in 1908 with a new cafe and burro train and a road from the south slope built by Harry Hartzell. This was supplemented in 1913 with a lighthouse, dance hall and funicular incline railway to the top. Business faded with the advent of the Denver Mountain Parks, and the funicular rails were salvaged for the allied effort in World War I in 1918. The idle resort was taken over by the Ku Klux Klan in 1923 as a major meeting and ceremonial place of its regional membership, during its rise to power in Colorado. This continued until the mid-1920s, after which it reverted to resort use as Lava Lane, and became idle again by 1926. The resort burned to the ground in an arson fire in 1927. During the 1910s-1920s, the city of Denver quarried gravel from the mountain's northeast alcove. In 1935, the Works Progress Administration built the Colorado Amphitheater for Camp George West on its southern side. Developers in 1957 originally wanted to build the Magic Mountain theme park at its northeastern alcove, until residents of Applewood protested and convinced them to build elsewhere. Subsequent attempts to develop or quarry the mountain including condominiums and a corporate headquarters continued through the remainder of the 20th century, and the mesa was gradually purchased or placed under easement by Jefferson County for open space. Today, much of South Table Mountain is open to the public, while southern portions are occupied by the Colorado State Patrol and National Renewable Energy Laboratory.[citation needed]
Although not necessarily recorded on United States Geological Survey maps, several historically named features are part of South Table Mountain:
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