By Tom Schweich
The Cottonwood Natural Area was dedicated to the city for “… public open space and drainage …” by the Harmony Village Plat, filed December 5, 1995. The Harmony Village plat created both Harmony Village and the adjacent Cottonwood homes. Each of those neighborhoods have their own private open space in addition to Cottonwood Natural Area that is public open space.
Tucked between Golden High School, Fossil Trace Golf Course, and surrounding neighborhoods, Cottonwood Natural Area feels like a hidden gem. While landlocked and lacking convenient public access, the area serves as a quiet refuge. Remarkably, when you combine the public and private open spaces with a golf course surge pond, you end up with about 6½ acres of natural land nestled amidst urban development—a surprising patchwork of greenery in an otherwise busy setting.
Cottonwood Natural Area is crossed on the northwest side by both the Welch Ditch and Kinney Run, so there is probably perennial water in the natural area to attract wildlife.
To be sure, Cottonwood Natural Area is quite weedy, with some listed noxious weeds, like White Top (Lepidium draba L.) and Scotch Cottonthistle (Onopordum acanthium L.). There is also Chinese Desert-Thorn (Lycium chinense Mill.), one of several species sometimes called “goji berry.” Like some of its relatives, Chinese Desert-Thorn has the potential to be invasive.
On the other hand, there are still quite a few native plants, such as my favorite “Goldy Locks,” though the rest of the world calls it rabbitbrush (Ericameria nauseosa var. graveolens). There are, of course, established cottonwood trees (Populus deltoides Marshall), with hawthorns (Crataegus sp.), coyote willows (Salix exigua Nutt.), and more.
Meadow vole tunnels crisscross the vegetation, hinting at a small mammal population that probably also includes mice, rabbits, raccoons, and the like. It's easy to imagine deer and elk wandering through, and very likely a predator or two in the brush or up in the trees.
With its mix of established trees, open terrain, and diverse flora and fauna, this little pocket of open space remains an unexpected yet valuable retreat amidst Golden's urban landscape.
