Silverthorne: Trails, Water and Culture

Silverthorne can be explored through its specific offerings along the water, trails and culture. When choosing your destination, you can consider whether you’d mainly like to get around on foot or by bike, are looking for water activities, or want to focus on performances and art. The following places and offerings provide different points of reference, without requiring you to limit yourself to just one type of stay.

Trails through Silverthorne and connections to the trail network

The Blue River Trail runs 3.5 miles from Silverthorne Elementary School and North Pond Park through downtown to Dillon Dam. Visitors can use the trail by bike or on foot. This means there are two main ways to enjoy the same route: you can explore it on foot or ride it by bike. The trail passes through downtown and connects different parts of Silverthorne with the river corridor.

The Blue River Trail connects to the Summit County Recpath. From there, trails lead to Dillon, Keystone, Breckenridge, Copper and Frisco. Another connection links downtown with the Salt Lick Trail System via the Mesa Cortina Connector Trail. These connections are useful if you’d like to plan routes beyond the immediate downtown area. Consider each section separately, along with the distance you want to cover.

The Lily Pad Lake Trailhead can be reached by taking the free Summit County Stage bus from the Silverthorne Transit Center. The trail itself is also accessible from the Salt Lick Area Trail System. To reach the Mesa Cortina Trailhead, take exit 205 off I-70 toward Silverthorne/Dillon. Road and parking conditions can change, so check them before setting out. If you plan to take the bus, checking the current schedule is a useful addition to your planning.

Water activities with different focuses

North Pond is a sheltered body of water and is suitable for learning to stand-up paddleboard. Both whitewater and flatwater rafting are available on the Blue River. The activities described therefore differ in kind: North Pond is a sheltered place to learn to paddle, while the river offers two forms of rafting.

Fishing is another option on the Blue River. The river in Silverthorne is suitable for fly-fishing for four different trout species. If you’re interested in water activities, you can choose between paddling, rafting and fishing rather than treating all the offerings as the same experience. Which ones you plan to try depends on the activity you’re looking for.

Parks, loop trails and scenery

Maryland Creek Park has a free nine-hole disc golf course. The park also has a loop trail that connects to the Gore Range Trail. Disc golf and the loop trail offer different reasons to visit the same park: one is an activity with a defined course format, while the other connects to a trail. These details can help you choose an outing based on what you’d like to focus on.

The Raven Golf Course at Three Peaks offers another perspective on the landscape. The course is set among pine and aspen forests, sparkling lakes and snow-covered peaks rising to 13,000 feet. This setting differs from the trails along the Blue River: here, forests, lakes and high peaks define the surroundings. When choosing activities, you can consider the river and trail on the one hand, and this landscape on the other, as different aspects of the area.

Art, performances and events

The Silverthorne Performing Arts Center hosts performances, art exhibitions and events. The center is home to Theatre SilCo, which stages performances in the center’s black box theater. In addition to the program inside the building, public art can be seen at several locations in Silverthorne: outside the Performing Arts Center, in town parks, along the Blue River Trail and downtown. Silverthorne also presents several public art exhibitions throughout the year.

First Fridays bring locals and visitors together on the first Friday of each month. If you’d like to include one of these events in your stay, check the date in advance. Art Spot offers classes in creative activities, adding another way to experience art beyond an exhibition or performance. Taken together, the cultural offerings range from public works in town to exhibitions, performances and classes. You can decide whether you’d rather experience art while out and about, at an event or in a class.

The trails, water activities, parks and cultural events described above offer concrete points of reference for exploring Silverthorne. For events scheduled on specific dates, check the dates and plan trail access based on current conditions.

Discover more destinations: Breckenridge, Dillon, Frisco, Keystone.

Return to the main travel overview: Summit.