Coal Creek, Jefferson County, Colorado

For the town near Cañon City, see Coal Creek, Fremont County, Colorado.

Coal Creek, commonly known as Coal Creek Canyon, is an unincorporated community and a census-designated place (CDP) located in Jefferson, Boulder, and Gilpin counties, Colorado, United States.^[5] The population of the Coal Creek CDP was 2,494 at the United States Census 2020.^[3] The unincorporated community is a part of the Denver-Aurora, CO Combined Statistical Area and the Front Range Urban Corridor.

Coal Creek, Colorado Coal Creek Canyon
census-designated place
"Downtown" Coal Creek Canyon.
Location of the Coal Creek CDP in Jefferson, Boulder, and Gilpin counties, Colorado.
Coal Creek Canyon Location of the Coal Creek CDP, Colorado. Show map of the United States Coal Creek Canyon Coal Creek Canyon (Colorado) Show map of Colorado
Coordinates: 39.9064°N 105.3775°W / 39.9064; -105.3775 (Coal Creek, Colorado)[1]
Country	United States
State	Colorado
Counties	Jefferson, Boulder, Gilpin
Government
• Type	unincorporated community
• Body	Jefferson County Boulder County Gilpin County
Area [2]
• Total	9.404 sq mi (24.355 km2)
• Land	9.388 sq mi (24.316 km2)
• Water	0.015 sq mi (0.039 km2)
Elevation [1]	8,586 ft (2,617 m)
Population  (2020)[3]
• Total	2,494
• Density	270/sq mi (100/km2)
Time zone	UTC−07:00 (MST)
• Summer (DST)	UTC−06:00 (MDT)
ZIP code[4]	Golden 80403
Area codes	303/720/983
GNIS place ID	1852841
GNIS CDP ID	2407642
FIPS code	08-15302

History

The Coal Creek, Colorado Territory, post office operated from April 9, 1864, until October 29, 1873, but the Golden, Colorado, post office (Zip code 80403) now serves the area.^[4][6]

Geography

The Coal Creek CDP has an area of 6,018 acres (24.355 km²), including 9.6 acres (0.039 km²) of water.^[2]

Public Transportation

From the 1990s through the early 2010s, Coal Creek Canyon was served by a limited commuter transit route operated by the Regional Transportation District (RTD). The service, known as Route CC, connected residents of the canyon to the Olde Town Arvada Park-n-Ride, with Park-n-Ride stops at Wondervu, the Coal Creek Canyon Improvement Association, and at the junction of State Highways 72 and 93.^[7]

Around 2010, due to low ridership RTD transferred operations of the route to Boulder County, rebranding it as the Coal Creek Express (CCE).^[8] Despite reduced costs and efforts to expand ridership—including a proposed extension to Nederland in 2011^[9]—the service was discontinued during RTD’s 2012 system-wide service reductions.^[10] Currently no fixed-route public transportation operates in Coal Creek Canyon.

Climate

According to the Köppen Climate Classification system, Coal Creek has a warm-summer humid continental climate, abbreviated "BSk" on climate maps, but closely borders on an oceanic climate (Cfb).

Climate data for Coal Creek Canyon, Colorado, 1991–2020 normals, extremes 1984–2019
Month	Jan	Feb	Mar	Apr	May	Jun	Jul	Aug	Sep	Oct	Nov	Dec	Year
Record high °F (°C)	60 (16)	58 (14)	66 (19)	73 (23)	81 (27)	88 (31)	89 (32)	87 (31)	84 (29)	75 (24)	67 (19)	60 (16)	89 (32)
Mean maximum °F (°C)	51.5 (10.8)	51.4 (10.8)	58.3 (14.6)	63.9 (17.7)	71.7 (22.1)	80.5 (26.9)	83.2 (28.4)	81.0 (27.2)	76.9 (24.9)	68.7 (20.4)	58.3 (14.6)	51.6 (10.9)	84.4 (29.1)
Mean daily maximum °F (°C)	33.4 (0.8)	34.2 (1.2)	41.2 (5.1)	45.9 (7.7)	55.3 (12.9)	66.7 (19.3)	73.0 (22.8)	71.2 (21.8)	64.3 (17.9)	51.8 (11.0)	40.9 (4.9)	33.2 (0.7)	50.9 (10.5)
Daily mean °F (°C)	24.5 (−4.2)	24.4 (−4.2)	30.7 (−0.7)	35.2 (1.8)	44.0 (6.7)	54.0 (12.2)	60.3 (15.7)	58.6 (14.8)	51.7 (10.9)	40.8 (4.9)	31.0 (−0.6)	24.0 (−4.4)	39.9 (4.4)
Mean daily minimum °F (°C)	15.6 (−9.1)	14.7 (−9.6)	20.2 (−6.6)	24.4 (−4.2)	32.6 (0.3)	41.2 (5.1)	47.5 (8.6)	46.1 (7.8)	39.2 (4.0)	29.8 (−1.2)	21.1 (−6.1)	14.8 (−9.6)	28.9 (−1.7)
Mean minimum °F (°C)	−6.8 (−21.6)	−8.4 (−22.4)	−0.4 (−18.0)	7.5 (−13.6)	19.3 (−7.1)	31.1 (−0.5)	39.1 (3.9)	36.7 (2.6)	24.8 (−4.0)	12.4 (−10.9)	0.9 (−17.3)	−8.3 (−22.4)	−15.5 (−26.4)
Record low °F (°C)	−24 (−31)	−36 (−38)	−18 (−28)	−10 (−23)	4 (−16)	26 (−3)	33 (1)	30 (−1)	3 (−16)	−11 (−24)	−17 (−27)	−30 (−34)	−36 (−38)
Average precipitation inches (mm)	1.00 (25)	1.32 (34)	2.68 (68)	3.79 (96)	3.24 (82)	2.19 (56)	2.89 (73)	2.84 (72)	1.86 (47)	1.66 (42)	1.23 (31)	1.13 (29)	25.83 (655)
Average snowfall inches (cm)	17.4 (44)	23.2 (59)	35.6 (90)	42.0 (107)	16.6 (42)	0.9 (2.3)	0.0 (0.0)	0.0 (0.0)	2.7 (6.9)	16.1 (41)	18.4 (47)	21.8 (55)	194.7 (494.2)
Average precipitation days (≥ 0.01 in)	9.6	10.4	11.2	13.6	13.6	12.2	14.8	15.4	9.8	8.1	8.1	9.0	135.8
Average snowy days (≥ 0.1 in)	10.5	11.3	12.1	12.7	6.9	0.9	0.0	0.0	1.2	6.2	8.4	10.0	80.2
Source 1: NOAA[11]
Source 2: National Weather Service (mean maxima and minima 1984–2019)[12]

Demographics

The United States Census Bureau initially defined the Coal Creek CDP for the United States Census 2000.

Coal Creek CDP, Colorado

Year	Pop.	±%
2000	2,323	—
2010	2,400	+3.3%
2020	2,494	+3.9%
Source: United States Census Bureau

See also

• Geography portal
• History portal
• United States portal
• Colorado portal

• Denver-Aurora-Centennial, CO Metropolitan Statistical Area
• Boulder, CO Metropolitan Statistical Area
• Denver-Aurora, CO Combined Statistical Area
• Front Range Urban Corridor
• List of census-designated places in Colorado
• List of populated places in Colorado
• List of post offices in Colorado