HIGH, WILD & HANDSOME

Boulder, Colorado is involved in a passionate love affair with wild, open spaces that has lasted for over one hundred years. 

These lands encompass the headwa­ters of South Boul­der Creek, Eldorado Canyon, and the foothills east of the canyon. Most of this huge tract of land is open to the public because it is owned by government agencies, including the State of Colorado, Boulder County Parks and Open Space and the City of Boulder Open Space and Mountain Parks.

The western boundary of the South Boulder Creek drainage begins at the east portal of the Moffat Tunnel where it pierces the Continental Divide through James Peak. Adjacent to the Moffat Tunnel, the Pioneer water bore transports Western Slope water from the Fraser River through the mountain, and feeds it into the headwaters of South Boulder Creek. Miles below the Pioneer tunnel outlet many acre-feet of water are stored in Denver Water’s Gross Reservoir.

Below Gross Reservoir, historic Walker Ranch, the largest cattle ranch in Colorado during its heyday, sprawled its 6000 acres on both sides of South Boulder Creek. Today the north part of the Walker Ranch belongs to Boulder County Parks and Open Space. The south, or Crescent Meadows land, is now Eldorado Canyon State Park.

The Denver, Utah & Pacific, an abandoned narrow gauge railroad grade built in the 1800s, pushed into Eldorado Canyon from the east and was graded many miles into the mountains. The project failed and no track ever was laid on the grade, but remnants of that construction still are visible.

During the early 1900s, David Moffat built a railroad higher on the walls of Eldorado Canyon and successfully probed westward into the mountains to cross the Continental Divide over Rollins Pass.

Historic pri­vate properties lie in lower Eldorado Canyon below the old Walker Ranch. These owners prohibit public access and protect their privacy with a locked gate across the access road.

Downstream from the locked gates, the Eldorado Canyon State Park lies between the private lands and the small, unincorporated town of Eldorado Springs.

East of the town of Eldorado Springs, the City of Boulder Open Space and Mountain Parks owns many acres of land. This land displays a unique and handsome geology where grassland prairies meet the upthrust of the Rocky Mountains. Pioneer buildings, miles of hiking trails, and historic homesteads and quarries are located on these areas. 

The course of South Boulder Creek is erratic as it fights its way around rocks as big as locomotives and careens between sheer precipices that thrash the water into white froth. Calm stretches of the creek ripple over deep pools filled with trout. Pioneers prized the creek for its life-giving water, its stands of timber, its fine fish and game habitat, and its sites for homes and camp spots. Before them, Native Ameri­cans probably cher­ished the creek for the same rea­sons.

Many changes took place over the years, changes that came in the guise of entrepreneurs as well as early settlers. Railroad builders, pros­pec­tors, water brokers, loggers, ranch­ers, home­steaders, a spiritual­ist, resort owners, a high wire artist and developers, all left their mark on this histo­ry. Fires and floods rewrote it with a vengeance.