Type: Road/Trail, Loop/Out-and-back
Difficulty: 6 / 10
Altitude: 5,676 ft
Elev. Gain/Loss: 1,448 ft / 1,448 ft
Dog Friendly: No
Jog-Stroller Friendly: No
Filed Under: Hiking, Running
This is a wonderful near-backcountry loop with a mellow road warmup and cooldown on quiet streets and a short section of wide highway shoulder. It's not on a trail, per se, so look for this run if you're interested in doing something a little more adventurous and don't mind not seeing anyone else on the run. You'll be sharing the mesa mostly with a couple of herds of deer and an abundance of wild grasses and cacti, and the clear sky and breezes off of the Front Range.
Starting at Lions Park in old town Golden, run east 4 blocks to Washington, the main old town drag. This is your easy warmup. :) Turn north on Washington and start heading gently uphill, over highway 58, and to the end of the road; it intersects with highway 93 to Boulder after about 1.25 miles. Turn north on the broad, runner-friendly shoulder to 93 and go another .75 miles to a right turn onto Pine Ridge. Go 100m and turn left, then follow the road's right curve another 100m to the intersection of Pine View and Wyoming Circle; on the left (north) side of the road is the trailhead parking area for the mesa run.
You can cut the run distance down to 8.84 miles by starting here, but you miss out on the warmup completely. Head up the trail behind a few houses, aiming for the water tank obvious above you. Go around the water tank on the trail to the 4x4 road that goes straight up to the top of the mesa and an old quarry. Another trail runs to the south, along the base of the cliff bands below the mesa top, and ends up at the parking area for the climbing area at the SW end of the mesa, but it's pretty dull.
When you reach the top, run a counterclockwise loop (start by just running through the quarry) around the mesa top, trying to stay within 100 feet of the edge for the entire loop. There isn't much of a trail here, except for an occasional game trail; you have to plan your route a little, and keep your eyes to the ground to avoid puncturing yourself on the cacti or rolling your ankle on the rough ground.
The actual summit of the mountain is on the far NE corner, marked anticlimactically by a stake driven into the rock and some orange surveyors tape. You'll have some rolling hills and a few draws to cross, but it's mostly easy and fun running with great, wide open scenery in all directions. Getting back down is obvious. No cheating and running the 4x4 road back from the true summit!
This is not a good run to take your dog on; there's no way he could avoid all of the cactus. You'll most likely bump into one or both of the deer herds that live up on top of the 75% open space mesa top, sometimes at very close ranges due to the rolling hills on top. Keep a camera handy!
A convenient parking area for a nice, long lollipop run (13.5 miles with little traffic) is at Lions Park, near the Golden Community/Rec Center, at the west end of 9th street. A kayak park, the community center, and the library are all within a block of this area for parking ease.
You'll have to find your own way to US6 from wherever you're coming from. US6 runs from downtown Denver east (coincidentally on 6th Ave) out east through Golden, and towards the gambling towns of Central City and Blackhawk. The prime driving landmark is the intersection of US6 and Colorado highways 93 (to Boulder) and 58 (between North and South Table Mountains, off of I70); following signs to Golden generally gets you to this intersection, where US6 takes a west turn up Clear Creek Canyon into the mountains. This intersection is pretty much under the big lit "M" for the School of Mines in Golden, for reference - look 1/2 mile north of the mountain with all the antennae!
From this intersection, you're going to go about 1/2 mile east (away from the mountains) to the Washington Street exit on highway 58 (you can also exit here from 58 westbound out of Denver from I70). Turn south on Washington and take your third right (10th) at the stoplight. Four blocks further on, you'll hit the SE corner of the park, and parking abounds.
For a shorter run, the loop-only crosscountry option for this run starts at the North Table Mesa trailhead, cutting 2.32 miles off of each end of the run. From the key highway intersection, go north about 3/4 mile to Pine Ridge Drive, a right turn (east) from the highway intersection - after two stoplights, it's the next turn, into the (currently) last housing development. Go 100m and turn left, then go another 100m to the intersection of Pine View and Wyoming Circle. The trailhead is on the north side of this intersection.
Posted by: tradkelly and last modified on Feb 02, 2006 by thoos
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