North Table Mountain Loop

North Table Mountain is the flat-topped mesa on the north side of Golden, a volcanic cap over a mile across with a loop of gravel roads and trails around its rim, cliffs on its south face where the climbers are, and a view from the top that takes in the Front Range from Longs Peak to Pikes Peak and the city to the east. The loop is 6.4 miles with about 700 feet of gain, and it is hikeable nearly every day of the year.

From the west trailhead on Highway 93, the North Table Loop climbs the mesa's west side on a steep gravel service road, the one real climb of the day, about 400 feet in half a mile. On top, the loop circles the rim on wide gravel and singletrack, with the Golden Cliffs and the town below on the south side and the plains on the east.

Side trails cross the mesa top and drop to the east trailhead on Easley Road, so the loop can be shortened or started from either side. The rim on the south and west sides has the views; the sunset from the west rim is the reason for the evening crowd. Return to the lot down the service road.

The west trailhead is on the east side of Colorado 93 about a mile north of Golden, a paved Jefferson County Open Space lot with toilets that fills by 8 AM on weekends year-round; the east trailhead on Easley Road is the quieter alternative. The park is free and open from an hour before sunrise to an hour after sunset. No permit.

Dogs are allowed on leash. The loop is long for small kids, but the flat top and the wide roads suit strollers and bikes once the climb is done. Mountain bikers use the loop in numbers; listen on the descents. Rattlesnakes are common on the mesa from April through October and the county posts warnings; keep dogs and kids on the trail. Carry water; there is none on the mesa. Golden has every service at the bottom. The Denver hikes page has Mount Falcon and the other foothills parks.