Boulder once had a railroad into the mountains. Here’s what happened to it.

In the late 19th century, a steam-powered narrow-gauge railroad wound its way from Boulder into the mountains of western Boulder County. The railroad succeeded in its purpose of hauling coal and other supplies to the mining towns and returning with silver and gold ore. Meanwhile, the general public rode around town in horse-drawn vehicles. Boulder residents and others longed for a change of scenery and cooler mountain air.

In 1898, when the Colorado & Northwestern Railroad replaced the former route of the Greeley, Salt Lake & Pacific (that never saw its namesakes), promoters rebranded their company and catered to excursionists. A local resident came up with the name “Switzerland Trail,” and the railroad company added “of America.”

The Switzerland Trail of America brought tourism to western Boulder County.

Initially, the narrow-gauge line ran only from Boulder to the town of Sunset. In addition to local passengers, a little bulldog rode the trains as well. He was said to get on at one stop and get off at another. No one knew who owned him, but railroad employees called him Grover Cleveland after the then-current U.S. president.

Then, under the ownership of the Colorado & Northwestern, a whole new world opened up to thrilled sightseers. After Sunset, the trains climbed to 9,500 feet before descending slightly into the town of Ward. When the first train arrived there in 1898, local residents greeted company officials and dignitaries with explosions of dynamite. A newspaper writer reported, “Ward feels the stimulus of the greedy hunt for gold and is roused into activity by the locomotive whistle.”

Between Sunset and Ward, the trains also stopped at Mont Alto, a railroad company picnic pavilion that catered to school and church groups, as well as to anyone eager for a day in the mountains. Instead of going on to Ward, the excursionists got off at Mont Alto, stayed for most of the day, then boarded returning trains several hours later.

In front of the pavilion, a fountain flowed with water fed by gravity from a spring 3,000 feet farther uphill. Many of the sightseers hiked or played baseball and picnicked while tapping into iced kegs of beer.

Ladies in long dresses gathered wildflowers. In the fall, “autumn leaf” specials made scheduled stops in aspen groves so passengers could gather boughs with yellow and orange leaves.

Late in 1904, the Colorado & Northwestern extended its southern branch from the town of Sunset to Eldora, west of Nederland. The Mont Alto pavilion, which had only been in use for four years, was dismantled, transported by train and rebuilt at Glacier Lake, east of today’s Peak to Peak Highway. There, the excursionists added rowing to their previous recreational activities.

Meanwhile, mining (and milling) along the route continued, and the railroad facilitated industry changes, as well. Except for its extensive and still-standing foundation, the Wall Street Gold Extraction Company’s mill in the town of Wall Street (two words in those days) was dismantled, loaded onto flatcars, and moved to the Livingston Mine on Sugarloaf Mountain. A newspaper reporter called the mill an “enormous monument of folly.” The company had declared bankruptcy, but its buildings and equipment got reused.

Artists and photographers often portrayed the “parting of the ways” where, at Sunset, trains to Ward made a sharp turn to the north, while others wound their way south to Eldora.  

Today, promotional brochures and mementos of the railroad era are sought after by collectors. All that remains of one elusive advertising item is a photo by Joseph Sturtevant of a “Switzerland Trail” dress. In addition to being a prolific photographer, Sturtevant was also an artist. It’s likely that he hand-painted the dress himself.

The dress was modeled by a young woman named Florence Hubbard. The photo is archived in Boulder’s Carnegie Library, but there is no information about where she wore it. Details about the dress and its location remain a mystery.

The Denver, Boulder & Western Railroad took ownership in 1909 and was the last company on the narrow-gauge line. Two years earlier, Boulder had enacted citywide prohibition. Passengers (who obviously enjoyed being outside city limits) nicknamed the line the “Drink Beer and Wine.”

In 1919, the narrow-gauge railroad was washed out by a flood. By then, the once-enthusiastic passengers had become enamored with the invention of the automobile. The railroad couldn’t compete or afford to rebuild. The route, so loved by previous Boulder residents, was abandoned.

In Boulder County, the mountain railroad era was over. Some parts of the routes — between Sunset and the Gold Hill Road and between Sunset and Glacier Lake — are still drivable by four-wheel-drive, high-clearance vehicles.

For the Switzerland Trail, however, it was the end of the line.