Field Trips 2026 Northeast Corner of Colorado

Colorado Scientific Society, Fall 2026 Field Trip
to Northeast Corner of Colorado

Saturday and Sunday, September 26-27, 2026
Leader: Bob Raynolds, Denver Museum of Nature & Science

This was a no-cost CSS trip with participants purchasing their own meals and overnight accommodations.
It concentrated on water, archeology, and Oligocene geology.

Tom Westfall's book on artifacts found along the South Platte River. We will see the ancient quarries, and Tom will tell us about his research and collections.
Tom Westfall’s book on artifacts found along the South Platte River. We will see the ancient quarries, and Tom will tell us about his research and collections.

Travel to Northeast Colorado and consider:

  • Subsurface stratigraphy, including Ogallala Aquifer and river gravels
  • Archeology; surface finds and ancient chalcedony quarries
  • Neogene outcrops: White River, Ogallala, Arikeree?
  • Water issues: Surface vs. groundwater and interstate compacts (and conflicts), including Ogallala Aquifer and river gravel
CSS 2026 field trip to the Northeast Corner of Colorado, September 26, 2026
CSS 2026 field trip to the Northeast Corner of Colorado, September 26, 2026

Logistics:

DAY 1 including Ogallala Aquifer and river gravels

  • Car pool from Denver Museum of Nature & Science parking lot
    Meet on the north side of the Denver Museum of Nature & Science at 8:30 AM on Saturday, September 26.
  • First stop Rocky Mt Arsenal to tie into the basement injection well
  • Then drive out I-76 to Sterling and the corner point marker following a new cross section along our route
  • Tour major private surface archeology collection and replication facility
  • Tour ancient chalcedony mines on Flat Top Mesa, a paleo chert quarry long used by indigenous peoples for material to make stone tools

Night in Sterling; options to camp at Reservoir or stay in Best Western Motel

View of the upper White River sediments on the High Plains escarpment. We will discuss the manner of deposition of these late Tertiary sediments.
View of the upper White River sediments on the High Plains escarpment. We will discuss the manner of deposition of these late Tertiary sediments.

DAY 2

  • Investigate surface and subsurface water use; municipal and agricultural
  • Examine the proposed canal route to be constructed by Nebraska to enhance their surface water supply
  • Review water use strategies by farmers facing diminishing supplies
  • Return to Denver Museum of Nature & Science at 6:00 PM

To sign up, participants emailed Bob Raynolds.

Future Trips
Bob says: “I plan this as the first of 4 trips, one to each corner of the State. The following three trips will be over the next few years, and each will likely be 3 day trips as they cover greater distances than this first one.”

At the Corner Point, field trip participants will be invited to collect a pebble. This will be affixed to a carefully crafted map of the State that will have space for three more pebbles to be collected on subsequent trips. The final four-pebble chart will be fridgable (that is worthy of hanging on your family refrigerator).

Verified by MonsterInsights