BOULDER VALLEY MINE

This route is a 4.2-mile round trip that heads west from the Depot and drops down the hill to cross the trestle at Coal Creek, ending at Old Town Erie. Spectacular views are found throughout the ride. Look for sweeping views of the Front Range. The largest mountain to the left is Thorodin Mountain (10,540’), the headwaters of Coal Creek. To the north you can see Longs Peak (14,259’).

Just as you come through the trees near the Erie Disc Golf Course is where the original Boulder Valley Mine was located— just to the left of the tracks. The mine was owned by the Union Coal Company, part of the Union Pacific Railroad, and in 1884 the miners went on strike for better working conditions. Union Coal threatened to close the mine permanently if the miners didn’t settle the strike. Believing the threat to be a bluff, the miners held out and the coal company abandoned the works and took out the machinery. The mine eventually re-opened under new ownership in the 1890’s and you can still see some of the tailing piles up on the hill.

You will turn west and cross Coal Creek on the 130’ long timber trestle. Starting on the east side of Thorodin Mountain, the Coal Creek drainage cuts a deep canyon down through the foothills and then runs northeast through Superior, Lafayette, and Erie before joining Boulder Creek. While it may look peaceful right now, Coal Creek has seen dramatic flash flood events damaging the railroad and downtown Erie.

Our staff will stop and flag for the Briggs Street crossing. This is the main street into Old Town. In the 1880’s, the Boulder County News referred to Erie as, “one of the most lively little towns in this part of the country.” That may have been in part because Erie was the only “wet” town in the area with eleven saloons on Briggs Street by 1895. The Old Mine building at the corner of Briggs and Moffat was the State Mercantile Company general store back then.

Just past Briggs you will come to a bike path crossing. This is where the Chicago, Burlington, and Quincy railroad crossed over the Union Pacific tracks at a “junction”. The tracks were pulled up in the 1990’s leaving a gap between the houses that makes a perfect park with a path connecting Old Town Erie to the regional trail system. You can see the footings of the old railroad station just to the north of the tracks.

Your route will end at E County Line Road where your crew will turn the bikes while you relax at our tables and umbrellas and learn a little more about the history of Erie and our railroad. Before your return trip back up the hill to the depot.

You are following in the tracks of 150 years of Erie Coal Trains on this route!