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Tomato Rock
Tomato
Rock is just a fun little boulder of red sandstone, almost spherical,
located in Bluebell Canyon off the Mesa Trail. I started at the
trailhead just south of the Chautauqua auditorium. The first leg of
this approach is a dirt road that drops into the canyon and runs
beneath some of the houses of the community there and then crosses
Bluebell Creek. The road curves around to the east and becomes
Enchanted Mesa Trail. I turned right onto McClintock Trail and walked
up and to the SW along the creek maybe 0.5 mi. to the Mesa Trail. South
on the Mesa Trail about 0.1 mi. brings us to an unmarked intersection.
To the east, are unmarked and unmapped trails that snake across
Enchanted Mesa. To the west is Tomato Rock. If you walk about 0.2 mi.
farther south on the Mesa Trail, you'll come to a signed intersection,
with Enchanted Mesa to the east and the Quarry Trail to the west.
I turned west onto the unmarked Tomato Rock Trail. Tomato Rock itself
is about 0.1 mi. up the trail on the right. The rock is 10 or 12 feet
in diameter. I understand that rock climbers have long enjoyed playing
on this little summit. A 1970 guide, High Over Boulder
by Ament & McCarty, said that "Light-spirited climbers have even
reached the top without touching their hands." Indeed, I didn't see any
chalk marks on the rock when I visited.
Of course, there are many places to wander on the slopes of Green Mt.,
here. At Tomato Rock, an usused road curves to the south and seems to
parallel Mesa Trail for a while. I continued west on the more used
Tomato Rock Trail, right in front of the third Flatiron. I curved to
the south and then to the SW and up. On a shoulder, a fork goes a short
distance W into Bluebird Canyon, at the foot of Flatiron 3 and directly
above Royal Arch Trail, to a small rock quarry. The south branch of the
fork curves to the south and up, slabbing across a steep slope, and
finally meets the Quarry Trail at a much larger rock quarry.
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Tomato Rock, looking west.
Tomato Rock, looking north-east.
West toward Flatiron 3.
Climbers atop the flatiron.
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| Getting There
From
Boulder, drive west on Baseline
Rd. Pass 9th St., and Chautauqua Park is on the left just before you
turn to climb Flagstaff Mt. Wend your way south on Kinnikinic Rd. and east on Morning Glory Dr. to the
auditorium and park south of the auditorium. A dirt road heads SW into
Bluebell Canyon.
The 2nd and 3rd maps above are thumbnails. Click
for a larger view. The 3rd map is hand drawn, as no trail map I own has
the Tomato Rock Trail on it. An extensive trail map
for all of Boulder County is available from the Boulder Area Trails
Coalition (link on home
page).
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