North Table Mountain
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| North Table Mountain | |
|---|---|
| Elevation | 6,551 feet |
| Location | Golden, Colorado |
| Range | Front Range |
| Prominence | Southwest Palisades |
| Coordinates | |
| Topo map | USGS Golden |
| Type | Mesa |
| First ascent | 1840s by Black Kettle |
| Easiest route | Quarry road up west slope |
North Table Mountain is a mesa located just northeast of Golden, Colorado in Jefferson County, Colorado. Its most disctinctive feature is its cap of basalt rock formed from ancient lava flows. North Table Mountain is a popular scenic and recreational destination of the Denver metro area, and it is preserved as public open space by Jefferson County and the Access Fund. The mountain has a twin formation nearby, known as South Table Mountain.
[edit] History
In early times North Table Mountain was used by American Indian tribes, who camped there and left archaeological remains upon it. Among these tribes were the Cheyenne and Arapaho, among whose chiefs Black Kettle is the earliest documented person to ascend the mountain, in the 1840s as a strategic defensive move against the enemy Ute tribe. After the area was settled the mountain was used for ranching, and in the 1890s three families were farming atop the mesa. Foundational remains of the Bussert family home are known to exist today. Their farms were led to by a road constructed up the northwest slope of the mountain, remains of which still exist. In the 1880s two small silver mines were opened on the southern slope of the mountain. At the beginning of the 20th century the Westcott-Doane gravel company opened a quarry upon a bench of the mountain's west face, and quarry operations ultimately expanded to the western top, peaking with the Gibbons quarry in the 1930s featuring an aerial tramway and gravel loading operations of which wood, concrete, mountain scarring and road up to the top remain now. During the 1940s a radio broadcast tower was constructed at the northwest top which still operates today. From the mid to late-20th century various quarrying and development proposals were made for the mesa top, including a shopping center and trailer park, which ultimately led to ongoing efforts to preserve the mountain as public open space. Acquisitions by Jefferson County Open Space and the Access Fund, which owns the southwestern cliffs for mountain climbing, have preserved the mountain in perpetuity.
[edit] Geologic Anomalies
A natural freshwater lake, known as Vaca Lake, is atop the mountain on its northern side. This has written sightings as far back as miners of the Colorado Gold Rush, and was used for many years to water livestock. There is also a hollow spot in the center of the mountain, described in 1897 by the Golden Globe newspaper as "a queer spot on the top of North Table mountain where a blow on the ground or a heavy step sounds like pounding on the head of an empty barrel...and lies in a hollow between walls of rock. The place is about 90 feet wide by perhaps 300 feet long." This spot is a possible lava tube from the flows of basalt which created the cap of the mountain.
[edit] Wildlife
Among the animals known to frequent the mesa through time include mountain sheep, mountain lions, deer, elk and more. Of these most except for the mountain sheep continue to live upon the mountain today. In the late 19th century bees also nested in the cliffs.
