The Boulder County Parks & Open Space Advisory Committee (POSAC) voted unanimously to recommend that Boulder buy the Orodell property adjacent to Betasso. This is huge for the cycling community that likes to ride to Betasso and would like to do that without getting on a road open to cars!
Tucked at the junction of Boulder Canyon and Fourmile Canyon, Orodell was once a bustling mountain settlement born in the mining boom of the 1870s. With a general store, post office, and school, it served loggers, miners, and travelers heading toward Nederland, as five stagecoaches rumbled through the canyon each day. When the Denver, Boulder & Western Railroad arrived in 1883—later nicknamed the “Drink Beer & Wine” train for its weekend tourists, Orodell became an early stop on the narrow-gauge line hauling ore, timber, and passengers up to Gold Hill, Ward, and Eldora.
Much of the former railway right-of-way is now the Switzerland Trail, a dirt road tracing the old railbed from Nederland to Ward. Orodell’s heyday was short-lived: a fire in 1883 and a catastrophic flood in 1894 destroyed its mills and ended its brief life as a frontier town. Today, little remains but its name and the enduring trail that follows the path where trains once steamed through Boulder’s mining past.
More than a decade ago Boulder County recognized the need for safer Boulder-to-Betasso connection via trail instead of a highway. The original plan in the 2010s was to extend the Boulder Canyon Trail all the way to the Betasso Link Trail. When Highway 119 flood repairs began, the County bundled the trail extension with CDOT’s work. But budget limitations eliminated a planned third bike underpass, so the extension stopped at Chapman Drive.
In 2016, county staff studied possible new trail options from Boulder Canyon to Betasso and found the options (quote) “unpalatable.” One concept included over 400 stairs to climb the canyon wall. The project was shelved until CDOT completed its work in 2021. During that time, staff changes and department restructuring left the idea without a champion and it stalled.
The Orodell property changes that. POSAC’s vote brought us one step closer to acquiring this property and a feasible way to build a trail to connect Boulder Canyon Trail to Betasso. And with thoughtful planning and design, we can go further: We can create a new trail that has a climbing-friendly grade and tie it into the top of the Betasso Link trail to make a 2.5 mile singletrack loop open to bikes seven days a week!
The next step is for the Boulder County Commissioners to make the final decision. If all goes according to plan, the property could close in early 2026.
Orodell circa 1890’s