Caribou Ranch - Bluebird Mine, Delonde Trail

This hike has a nice variety of open areas and wooded paths.  The initial trail is the Switzerland Trail. This used to be tracks of a narrow gauge railroad with the finest scenery on earth. The train went from Boulder to Ward. The BlueBird mine was named for the blue azurite mineral often found in silver ore.

The trailhead is located just outside of Nederland. There are bathrooms at the trailhead. The trail starts off 1.2 miles until you get to the loop. We took a left when we got to the intersection of the BlueBird Loop.

There were many aspen trees, ponderosa pine, douglas cir and lodgepole pines.  This would be a great place to come back in the fall.

You will soon meet up with the BlueBird Loop trail. This will lead to to the mine if you wish to add on some mileage and explore the historic buildings.  Usually you have to make your own trail here. So its another bonus of a workout. When you see the fence, to the right is a path that heads to the mine.

This Bunkhouse is the first building you encounter as you leave the main trail toward the mine.  This is the bunkhouse that the miners used to sleep.  It was also a photogenic stop from the railroad when the tourists rode the train. They loved to all pose in front and even some movie scenes were filmed here.

Past the bunkhouse is another house. The mining here began in 1880. Miners worked 10 hours a day in the mine 6 days a week.

This brick and stone house was modern for its time in 1941. It had wired electricity. There was a"pool" next to the house but never used for swimming because at 10,000 ft it was never warm enough.  Instead they kept their trout they caught fishing so they were readily available to eat.

This is where the mine entrance once was. There is also a rusted car nearby as well.

After a while on the loop you will come to the DeLonde Homestead from 1870