Round Trip Distance: 0.8k/0.5 miles
Difficulty: Moderate
XC Skill level:
Elevation: 9913 - 10,031 feet
Cellphone: 0-2 bars
Time: 30 mins.
Trailhead: Ironton Park
Fee: none
Attractions: Historic mining site
Colorado Boy is in the Ironton Park Nordic Trails area south of Ouray, Colorado. The trail begins at the end of the Silver Belle trail where after a short descent through a forested mountain side of aspen and pine trees it makes a loop around the abandoned Colorado Boy mine.
Follow the directions for the Silver Belle trail to get to where the Colorado Boy trail begins. The start of the trail is about 1.8 miles from the Ironton Park trailhead.
The trail begins with a gradual descent as it heads through the trees toward the mine.
A good number of blue diamond markers make route finding through the forest an easy task.
The mine sits about a hundred feet lower in elevation than the beginning of the trail but the difference is spread out over a quarter mile so the change is gradual enough that it only requires a moderate amount of effort.
A loop begins about halfway to the mine.
When the trail reaches the mine it comes upon it from behind the ruins of the former buildings.
The main structure has had a little restoration done to it to keep it propped up. Visitors are welcome to go inside and take a look around being careful not to damage it in any way.
The mine is visible by passing motorists on the Million Dollar Highway as they pass through Ironton Park.
This is a good spot to spend a little time taking in the surrounding scenery.
After leaving the mine the route continues around the loop.
