Colorado's Switzerland Trail: A Brief History

The Switzerland Trail is a hiking, 4x4 and motorcycle trail/road located west of Boulder, Colorado. 

What is today known as the Switzerland Trail was first a narrow-gauge railway, which ran along branches from Boulder to Eldora, Gold Hill, and Ward, Colorado. Despite being a rail trail, the name "Switzerland Trail" actually dates back nearly as long as the railroad history of the route does.

The first bit of the trail dates back to 1883, when the Greeley Salt Lake and Pacific Railway began grading a right of way. In 1894, a significant flood destroyed the track work that had been done, and the company along with it.

In 1896, the project was completed by a new company, the Colorado and Northwestern Railroad. Many spur lines were completed by the CNWR, and it was them who coined the route as the "Switzerland Trail" in an attempt to attract tourists in 1898. 

"The railroad changed its focus from industrial use to tourism, taking passengers into the mountains to view wildflowers, sightsee, picnic, and celebrate holidays along with other activities." - Boulder County Open Space



This would prove to be quite the folly, as the extremely harsh weather meant tourists were restricted to visiting the area only about 2-4 months per year.

The Denver Boulder & Western Railway took over operations once the CNWR went bankrupt; but weren't much more successful at running the line profitably. In 1919, railroad operations were abandoned along the route.

William Henry Jackson photo of the Switzerland Trail, 1900.

In spite of the railroad no longer existing, the Trail was instrumental in providing transportation of bulk cargo to many mining camps and small towns that it served, and had far greater success as a surface road than a railroad. 

Today, the Switzerland Trail is maintained as a hiking/biking trail as part of the Boulder County road system.


Location: Switzerland Trail, Colorado, USA

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

The Abandoned Route 66 in McCook, IL

Image
Route 66, the iconic "Main Street of America," weaves through the heart of the United States, connecting communities and embodying the spirit of adventure. However, not all sections of this historic highway have stood the test of time. While much of the former US 66 is drivable in one way or another, especially in Illinois, there are some parts are not.  One of the first such roadblocks for would-be travelers heading from Chicago to Los Angeles via the Mother Road, now known as Joliet Road, comes just outside of Chicago in McCook, IL, where the former highway is closed between 55th St and East Ave, and has been for over two decades. (Link to the location on our Ghost Towns Map ) Image: Google Maps at 55th and Joliet Rd in McCook, IL The land that the quarry would eventually take over was part of Stinson Airport in the early days of Route 66, dating back to before 1930. ( Abandoned Airports map ). 1938 USGS Aerial Imagery The quarrying on the south side of the road would...
Read more

The Underwater Water Slide: Fly Over at Durinrell TikiBad

Image
Have you ever wished to experience being transferred from one pool of liquid to another via a pipe? Had you visited the Dutch water park known as Durinrell , also known as Tikibad before 2010, you would have had the chance. Half water slide, half war crime, this was a unique water slide that was filled to the brim with water, leaving riders completely submerged throughout the journey. Image:  XtremeRidesNL Known as the Fly Over was an underwater water slide, which is exactly how it sounds, and transported riders from one pool to another using the water as propulsion. Built in 1994, riders dove underwater to access the slide, using gravity to transport them upwards via the Communicating Vessels Principle . Riders would be completely underwater for about 15-20 seconds. This is how I imagine those 15-20 seconds felt like while riding the slide. The slide was built to drain water in five seconds or less in case a rider got stuck in the slide or had a medical emergency, but the threat...
Read more

Railroad Vocabulary: A List of Words and Phrases Used in the Industry - Updated February 2024

Image
As somebody who enjoyed watching trains, but was not an employee of the railroad industry ( at least growing up ), when I would interact with railfans and historians, there was often a lot of technical jargon that applied only to the railroad industry thrown back and forth that made it difficult for a newcomer to understand what they were talking about. For example, what is a dinky? It's actually a passenger train. This non-inclusive language seems to keep the loop closed to members of the community, and to uncouple (no pun intended) that technical jargon and help make it easier for people to communicate with people in the industry, I am creating a list of railroad vocabulary that I'm hoping will make the industry more transparent.  BNSF 2361 . Image: Matt Flores While I ultimately believe that such technical jargon has no place outside of perhaps technical communications between employees, I know quite well that I alone am not going to stop people from communicating in a non-i...
Read more