History

A toll wagon road was built up Chimney Gulch in the 1880’s by Dan McCleery. The gulch is named for the tall chimney that was on the toll-house at the mouth of the gulch. In 1910-1914, Golden’s historical character, “Cement Bill” (William Williams), paved the Lariat Loop Trail, which wound its way up Mount Zion and Lookout Mountain.

The Windy Saddle Trailhead, which is 3.7 miles uphill from the intersection of 6th Avenue and 19th Street in Golden, serves the Beaver Brook Trail, which was constructed in 1917 by volunteers of the Colorado Mountain Club and Mount Vernon Canyon Residents.

The park property was gradually acquired beginning with a donation by the Ramstetter family in 1977. The Chimney Gulch Trail was rebuilt in 1997, 86 years after it was first begun.