Rutherford Trail

The Town of Georgetown’s visitor site lists the Rutherford Trail at 403 3rd Street as an intermediate, 2.1-mile trail from Georgetown up to Silver Dale. The state’s trail explorer, COTREX (https://trails.colorado.gov/routes/184), which names the Town of Georgetown as the trail’s manager, describes it as an out-and-back hiking and snowshoeing route of 2.1 miles with 734 feet of climbing, rated moderate and relatively steep. It starts through a gate and up a dirt road past a water tower and water facility beside the creek, with a map kiosk at the bottom and QR-code signs marking historic sites along the old Georgetown and Chicago Lakes wagon road; after the last bridge, about 0.3 miles up, it becomes narrow singletrack, with steps and wooden bridges in places, and ends at the Sporting Times Trail in Silver Dale. The route’s last stops describe the Colorado Central mill, built in 1917–18, whose concrete foundations remain.

Neither page gives parking, permit or closure rules. Facts from the Town’s Hiking in Georgetown page and the COTREX route page, read 10 October 2026.