South Valley Park is Jefferson County Open Space located in

Jefferson Jefferson may refer to: Names * Jefferson (surname) * Jefferson (given name) People * Thomas Jefferson (1743–1826), third president of the United States * Jefferson (footballer, born 1970), full name Jefferson Tomaz de Souza, Brazilian foo ...

County west of Ken Caryl,

Colorado Colorado (, other variants) is a state in the Mountain West subregion of the Western United States. It encompasses most of the Southern Rocky Mountains, as well as the northeastern portion of the Colorado Plateau and the western edge of t ...

. The Front Range park established in 1999 has of

hiking trail A trail, also known as a path or track, is an unpaved lane or small road usually passing through a natural area. In the United Kingdom and the Republic of Ireland, a path or footpath is the preferred term for a pedestrian or hiking trail. The ...

s. Horse and bicycle travel is allowed on . Facilities include a parking lot, restrooms, picnic sites. CoyoteSongTrail

The Fountain and

Lyons Lyon,, ; Occitan: ''Lion'', hist. ''Lionés'' also spelled in English as Lyons, is the third-largest city and second-largest metropolitan area of France. It is located at the confluence of the rivers Rhône and Saône, to the northwest of th ...

Formations pierce the

meadow A meadow ( ) is an open habitat, or field, vegetated by grasses, herbs, and other non-woody plants. Trees or shrubs may sparsely populate meadows, as long as these areas maintain an open character. Meadows may be naturally occurring or artifi ...

s and

scrubland Shrubland, scrubland, scrub, brush, or bush is a plant community characterized by vegetation dominance (ecology), dominated by shrubs, often also including grasses, Herbaceous plant, herbs, and geophytes. Shrubland may either occur naturally or ...

of the park. Rocky mountain juniper and Gambel oak are found around the rock spires. Commonly seen wildlife includes mule deer,

elk The elk (''Cervus canadensis''), also known as the wapiti, is one of the largest species within the deer family, Cervidae, and one of the largest terrestrial mammals in its native range of North America and Central and East Asia. The common ...

. Common birds include

steller's jay Steller's jay (''Cyanocitta stelleri'') is a bird native to western North America and the mountains of Central America, closely related to the blue jay found in eastern North America. It is also known as the long-crested jay, mountain jay, and pin ...

. The park has been occupied by humans as early as 10,000 years ago. The earliest evidence is a 10,000-year-old Folsom spear point found in the park. Numerous fire pits and stone tools have also been found in the area. A human skull found at a burial site has been carbon dated to approximately 1,900 years ago.http://jeffco.us/jeffco/openspace_uploads/south_valley_park_history.pdf

Gallery

South Valley Park, Jefferson County, Colorado - red rock formation 01.jpg, red rock formation South Valley Park, Jefferson County, Colorado - red rock formations.jpg, red rock formations South Valley Park, Jefferson County, Colorado - rock with lichen on it.jpg, rock with lichen South Valley Park, Jefferson County, Colorado - Columbine trail.jpg, Columbine trail South Valley Park, Jefferson County, Colorado - Cathy Johnson trail marker.jpg, Cathy Johnson trail marker South Valley Park, Jefferson County, Colorado - Columbine trail marker.jpg, Columbine trail marker South Valley Park, Jefferson County, Colorado - trail.jpg, trail South Valley Park, Jefferson County, Colorado - steps on trail.jpg, steps on trail South Valley Park, Jefferson County, Colorado - Coyote Song and Swallow Trail marker sign.jpg, Coyote Song and Swallow Trail marker sign South Valley Park, Jefferson County, Colorado - red rocks.jpg, red rocks South Valley Park, Jefferson County, Colorado - tall red rocks.jpg, tall red rocks

References

https://www.jeffco.us/1431/South-Valley-Park

External links

* Protected areas of Jefferson County, Colorado Geography of Jefferson County, Colorado Hiking trails in Colorado Protected areas established in 1999 Parks in Colorado 1999 establishments in Colorado {{Colorado-protected-area-stub