The Colorado Scientific Society normally has spring and fall field trips.
Our No Moss Gatherings are short visits to interesting sites around the Denver area (from “a rolling stone gathers no moss”).
Note: The Colorado Scientific Society has adopted the federal fiscal year calendar of Oct 1 – Sept 30 for our expenses and membership. The vast majority of our renewals start late in the calendar year (~Nov) and dribble into the following spring (~March) with very few received outside that window.
Check the Fiscal Year 2026 CSS Paid Membership List for your status.
Colorado Scientific Society, 2026 No Moss Field Trip
Sandstone Ranch
Saturday, October 31, 2026
Leader: Ned Sterne, Consulting Geologist, Colorado Scientific Society 2022 President
Sandstone Ranch Open Space CSS No Moss Gathering – Saturday, October 31st, 2026
Join Ned Sterne between 9:00 a.m. and 1:00 p.m. on Saturday October 31st for a hike to discuss the geologic structure of Douglas County’s beautiful Sandstone Ranch Open Space. The hike will be divided into two parts. The first will be a 1.1-mile walk involving a 180’ elevation gain to see an exposure of the eastern range-front fault. After viewing the fault, we will return to the parking lot, which gives you the option of skipping the second part of the hike. The second part of the hike will be a 3.4-mile walk involving 275’ of vertical gain on the way out and 133’ of vertical gain on the way back. This part of the hike will take us to the site of 3 holes drilled by Shell Oil in the 1950’s used to determine the dip of the eastern range-front fault. We will discuss the surface and subsurface data, including seismic data, that inform the variety of structural interpretations made for this area. Total mileage if you do both parts of the hike will be 4.5 miles with 590’ of vertical gain.
Please email me at nedsterne@aol.com if you plan on attending, so I can let you know if we cancel the trip due to foul weather – if we cancel on the 31st, we will postpone the trip one week and try again on November 7th. Our meeting place will be the parking lot for the Sandstone Ranch Open Space (39.2252, -104.9415) located 1.7 miles south of the entrance to the Perry Park development and accessed via an entrance road west off SH105. We will start hiking promptly at 9:00 a.m. and will complete the hike around 1:00 p.m.. Bring water, a bag lunch and clothing suitable for a fall day in Colorado. My phone number is 303 829-2789 if you run into problems. If you would like to carpool, meet at 8:00 a.m. at the northwest corner of the Littleton Mineral RTD Station parking lot (39.5818, -105.0267). We will depart from there at 8:10 a.m.
Download a PDF with this announcement: Sandstone Ranch Open Space, CSS No Moss Gathering
More Information on Sandstone Ranch open space can be found at:
https://www.douglas.co.us/open-space-natural-resources/properties/sandstone-ranch/
Click on the button to “View the Interactive Map” for Douglas County. Sandstone Ranch is in south central Douglas County, south of Perry Park.
North Table Mountain, Lichen Peak – Postponed
CSS No Moss Gathering
This field trip was postponed due to the US Government Shutdown.
Leah cannot run it during the shutdown because it is USGS work.
Meeting place: North Table Mountain Park West Trailhead
Time: 9:00 AM – 12:00 noon
Trail: 575 foot climb over 0.85 miles from trailhead to summit of North Table Mountain
This field trip has been postponed due to the US Government Shutdown.
Leah cannot run it during the shutdown because it is USGS work.
Led by Ned Sterne, plus Leah Morgan (USGS), Bob Raynolds (if he’s in the country) and Lexie Millikin, the hike will go up the North Table Loop Trail, the first part of which is a gravel access road to the top of N Table Mtn, and then up to the “Lichen Peak” area. This latter place contains an unusual “squeezed up” area of lava (a laccolith, apparently younger than the rest of Table Mtn) which Leah, Lexie, et al. have been studying. They will show and explain all!
You might let Ned know (nedsterne@aol.com) if you are planning to come on this trip, so they know about how many to expect. Because Jeffco Open Space hiking regulations limit hiking groups to no more than 14, if there are more coming than this, they will divide into two groups, spaced a ways apart on the trail.
The West Trailhead parking lot can get very full on weekends, so it might be a prudent thing to arrive early to find a parking spot, or to find parking elsewhere if the lot is full. [Parking along the shoulder of Hwy 93, of course, is NOT an option.] One alternative, about a quarter mile toward Golden from the trailhead, off Pine Ridge Rd and then Wyoming Circle, is a small parking area (or curbside parking?) with a short spur trail that connects to the North Table Loop parking area. That can be an alternative if you find the Trailhead full up.
Link to 2005 CSS field trip to North Table Mountain lead by Harald Drewes.
Harald’s field trip guide is posted with the info. about the field trip.
See our Past Field Trips for other places and topics the Colorado Scientific Society has explored.
