1.8 miles
Distance
104 ft
Climb
-423 ft
Descent
00:16:42
Avg time
Supporters, Builders, Maintainers & Land Managers of Paymaster Trail

Paymaster Trail Details

  • Activities
    • Mountain Bike
    • E-Bike
    • Hike
    • Trail Running
  • Riding Area
    Maryland Mountain Quartz Valley Park
    Black Hawk, Colorado
  • Difficulty Rating
    Blue rate
  • Voted Difficulty
    Black Diamond (1 vote)
  • Hiking SAC Scale
    T1 Hiking
  • Blaze Color
  • Trail Type
    Singletrack
  • Direction
    Downhill Primary
    Popular direction shown
  • Climb Difficulty
    Blue
  • Physical Rating
    Moderate
  • Trail Visibility
    Always easy to follow
  • Dogs Allowed
    Yes
  • eBike Allowed
    Yes up to Class 1
  • Global Ranking
    #99444 in Mountain Biking [+]
    • #22722 in E-Biking
    • #48917 in Trail Running
    • #93023 in Hiking
  • Local Popularity
    45 in Mountain Biking [+]
    • 45 in E-Biking
    • 5 in Trail Running
    • 35 in Hiking
  • Year Opened
    2020
  • Land Owner
    City of Black Hawk

Paymaster is best ridden as a downhill extension to lengthen your run down Claim Jumper. Once you reach the Historic Gilpin Tramway trail hang a right and continue on to Easy Money to recycle back up to the top of Maryland Mountain.

You may be tempting to climb Paymaster given its proximity to the Hidden Treasure Parking Lot, however it becomes very inefficient due to several steep punchy sections on loose southern exposed terrain. Stick to Easy Money as your most efficient climbing option.

Local Trail Association
Traditionally Indigenous Territory
More Stats for Paymaster Trail mountain bike trail trail
  • Altitude change
    -318 ft
  • Altitude min
    8,384 ft
  • Altitude max
    8,778 ft
  • Altitude start
    8,702 ft
  • Altitude end
    8,386 ft
  • Grade
    -3.4%
  • Grade max
    -29.4%
  • Grade min
    16.9%
  • Distance climb
    2,444 ft
  • Distance down
    1 mile
  • Distance flat
    1,207 ft
  • Avg time
    00:16:42
  • Avg reverse time
    00:24:00
  • view trail stats
Status:
on Sep 29, 2024
Dry
Avg: 3.3 (6 votes)
Your vote: 0

view (1,022)
close
  • BasemapMap 
    • Pro
    • Pro
    • Pro
    • Pro
    • Pro
    • Pro
    • Pro
    • Pro
3D
Trail Conditions
  • Unknown
  • Snow Groomed
  • Snow Packed
  • Snow Covered
  • Snow Cover Partial
  • Freeze/thaw Cycle
  • Icy
  • Prevalent Mud
  • Wet
  • Variable
  • Ideal
  • Dry
  • Very Dry
Trail Flow (Ridden Direction)
Trailforks scans users ridelogs to determine the most popular direction each trail is ridden. A good flowing trail network will have most trails flowing in a single direction according to their intension.
The colour categories are based on what percentage of riders are riding a trail in its intended direction.
  • > 96%
  • > 90%
  • > 80%
  • > 70%
  • > 50%
  • < 50%
  • bi-directional trail
  • no data
Trail Last Ridden
Trailforks scans ridelogs to determine the last time a trail was ridden.
  • < 2 days
  • < 1 week
  • < 2 weeks
  • < 1 month
  • < 6 months
  • > 6 months
Trail Ridden Direction
The intended direction a trail should be ridden.
  • Downhill Only
  • Downhill Primary
  • Both Directions
  • Uphill Primary
  • Uphill Only
  • One Direction
Contribute Details
Colors indicate trail is missing specified detail.
  • Description
  • Photos
  • Description & Photos
  • Videos
Trail Popularity ?
Trailforks scans ridelogs to determine which trails are ridden the most in the last 9 months. Trails are compared with nearby trails in the same city region with a possible 25 colour shades. Think of this as a heatmap, more rides = more kinetic energy = warmer colors.
  • most popular
  • popular
  • less popular
  • not popular
ATV/ORV/OHV Filter
Max Vehicle Width
inches
US Cell Coverage
Legend
cell carrier legend

Radar Time
x Activity Recordings
Trailforks users anonymized public ridelogs from the past 6 months.
  • mountain biking recent
  • mountain biking (>6 month)
  • hiking (1 year)
  • moto (1 year)
Activity Recordings
Trailforks users anonymized public skilogs from the past 12 months.
  • Downhill Ski
  • Backcountry Ski
  • Nordic Ski
  • Snowmobile
Winter Trails
Warning A routing network for winter maps does not exist. Selecting trails using the winter trails layer has been disabled.
x Missing Trails
Most Popular
Least Popular
Trails are colored based on popularity. The more popular a trail is, the more red. Less popular trails trend towards green.
Jump Magnitude Heatmap
Heatmap of where riders jump on trails. Zoom in to see individual jumps, click circles to view jump details.
Trails Deemphasized
Trails are shown in grey.
disable
Only show trails with NO bikes.
enable

Save the current map location and zoom level as your default home location whenever this page is loaded.

Save
      Directions to paymaster-trail trailhead (39.813330, -105.514860)
      update trails status or condition

      Paymaster Trail Trail Reports

      statusdatedescription
      Sep 29, 2024 @ 5:52pm
      Sep 29, 2024
      Sep 29, 2024 @ 9:25am
      Sep 29, 2024
      		 Closed this weekend for race.
      Sep 20, 2024 @ 9:45am
      Sep 20, 2024
      Aug 25, 2024 @ 8:55am
      Aug 25, 2024
      May 14, 2024 @ 7:13am
      May 14, 2024
      view all reports »

      Recent Ridelog Activity on Trail

      Past Week
      • 0 rides
      •  
      6 Months
      • 12 rides
      • 14 miles avg distance
      All
      • 135 rides
      • Last: Jan 4, 2025

      Photos

      more »
      36 |
      Jun 17, 2024 @ 9:58am
      Jun 17, 2024
      56 |
      Dec 29, 2022 @ 3:50am
      Dec 29, 2022
      114 |
      Jul 30, 2021 @ 2:40pm
      Jul 30, 2021
      183 |
      Jun 6, 2021 @ 6:57am
      Jun 6, 2021

      Routes with this trail

      more »
      titledistance
      Fast Money/Paymaster Loop featured8 miles
      The Whole Casino featured16 miles
      evo Trailgate Maryland Mountain Women's Route 20248 miles
      evo Trailgate Maryland Mountain Cruiser Route 20248 miles

      3 Reviews & Comments


      We hope you've been enjoying Trailforks!

      Create a FREE account to view trail comments and much more.

      Create a Free Account

      Videos

      more »
      Paymaster - loose, scenic blue flow - fall...
      15:37 | 40 | Sep 22, 2024 , Black Hawk
      Gap jump on Paymaster Trail at Maryland...
      0:10 | 507 | May 26, 2021 , Black Hawk

      Nearby Trails

      Maryland Mountain Quartz Valley Park

      • By toddTF Pro Trailforks & contributors
      • #376790 - 1,844 views

      You must enter a description before submitting.