Olde Town Arvada to Gold Strike Station

Confluence of Clear Creek and Rolston Creek

The very place of the first gold strike in Colorado.

Rolston Creek, Rolston Point (the earlier name of Arvada), Rolston Ridge, Rolston Road, Rolston Crossing, Rolston Station...who is this Rolston guy?

In 1850, Lewis Rolston, a prospector from Georgia stopped by this very place and panned a quarter ounce of gold out of the creek that now bears his name. They left the next morning on their way to California. In 1858, Rolston returned with another group and set up a placer mine at the same site...the first gold strike in Colorado.

Rolston was born in 1804 in South Carolina but later moved to Auraria, Georgia (after which Auraria, Colorado was named and from where many of the settlers of Auraria, Colorado came). He is also sometimes credited with starting the gold rush in Georgia after he collected a shiny rock in what would later be Lumpkin County, Georgia.

He returned east in his later life, served in the Confederate army and probably died in Georgia around 1870.

When the gold played out in Rolston Creek, many of the miners settled down to farm the area.

My trek started, as usual, in Centennial and I boarded the G Line train at Union Station in downtown Denver.

I detrained at Arvada Olde Town and relaxed for a few minutes with a milk shake. The statue at the station, Frank Swanson's Track Bone, refers to the railroad as the backbone of the community. It's carved out of Colorado rose red granite.

I joined Rolston Creek on the Rolston Creek Trail right in downtown Arvada.

Rolston Creek arises a little to the west in Golden Gate Canyon in northeastern Gilpin County. Rolston Creek Trail begins just north of North Table Mountain near Golden, Colorado and runs about 14 miles to the confluence of Rolston Creek with Clear Creek, where it joins the Clear Creek trail. Since these trails parallel the G Line to Pecos Junction, I'll be making use of them for a while. After that, Clear Creek and the G Line separate. The creek joins the South Platte River in Thornton. I would not want to hike back to Union Station from there 

Clear Creek has enough energy to eat away at it's banks, so there's plenty of meandering. Oxbows aren't common around here. The land isn't quite flat enough for streams to go anywhere they want. But there are a few. One nice example is in the Carson Nature Center in Littleton. There were a couple of places on this hike where it looked like Rolston Creek might make oxbow lakes if left alone. With all the urbanization and industrial parks, there's little chance of that happening.

Oxbow lakes form when a meander is choked with sediment so that it's cut off from the rest of the stream. Check out maps of streams out on the plains and you'll find many examples 

Have I mentioned that Denver likes murals? These murals in Arvada are exhibits from the 2021 Arvada Babe Walls Mural Festival. 

I left the Rolston Creek Trail at the Gold Strike Park, which commemorates the first Colorado gold strike. Along with the interpretive plaque, there are a few pieces of placier equipment on display. I'll get back to this park on my next hike.

Getting from the park to Arvada Gold Strike Station required a little navigation around urban streets but it wasn't too complicated or far and it afforded some nice views of the commuter train...

and the mountains.

The station itself is pretty typical of these G Line stations.

How do the streams in your area differ in appearance than these in the Denver Metro area? What might account for their differences?

Gold prospecting was a trend in the U.S. in the 1800s. Was there a gold rush in your area? You might be surprised. Gold is fairly rare but is widely distributed. Do your homework and you might even be able to find some in your area.