Easy Maryland Mountain Tour

Dogs Leashed

E-Bikes Allowed

This beginner ride though Maryland Mountain tours through some of Black Hawk's historic mining claims with great views along the way.

There are 45 parking spots at the Hidden Treasure Trailhead as well as vault toilets.

Your ride begins on the Historic Gilpin Tramway, (which was the only two-foot narrow-gauge railroad in Colorado in the 1800s). The tramway surface is approximately 48" in width, with grades generally under 4%, making this trail accessible to everyone. Check out the stone retaining wall, it's over 150 years old!

You'll stay on the Historic Gilpin Tramway for two miles and then continue straight on Quartz Valley Trail (an old road) for half a mile. This section is the easier portion of the ride and may be all a young or new rider needs. If you are ready for some singletrack and climbing, take the right onto Easy Money.

Easy Money was designed to be a moderate climbing trail, but it's still a climbing trail. It's steeper, narrower and has tighter turns than anything on the Historic Gilpin Tramway. Since this ride is an out and back, just go up Easy Money as long as you like. It's a moderate climb to the intersection with Claim Jumper, but gets steeper the closer you get to the summit. When you've had enough, just point your bike downhill and go back the way you came.

A beginner downhill trail is under construction in spring on 2021, when this trail is completed there will be a lollipop option.

Maryland Mountain has played a vital role in the history of Black Hawk since the City was founded in 1864. Located directly northwest of the Black Hawk central business district, it is bounded on the north and east by Hwy 119, Chase Gulch to the south, with private ranch lands to the west.

Throughout the late 1800s and early 1900s, this area was a bustling industrial site filled with mines, mills, roads, and tramway railroads. The mining scars have since transformed into a re-forested mountain landscape and in 2020 became home to a world class trail system.