easiest way by trail to silverton, co?

[lostlandscapes]

hey all, i'll be on the cdt thru colorado in late july, and will be stopping in at silverton to meet someone. looking at my map, it appears that its possible to hike down to town from the cdt on forest roads. i know its not a short distance, but i try to avoid hitching when possible. does anyone know what the easiest route down to silverton is?

also, if i did decide to hitch, where would one hitch from?

thanks a lot.

[fiddlehead]

Don't know of a trail that goes down there but I'll tell you what many do: When you cross the railroad (i think it's a miniature railroad) just East (north) of Molas pass, you can get on a train that goes to Silverton. I believe it is called the Durango/Silverton Miniature train. The train stop is called Elk Park and here is a link to their website and schedule for stopping at Elk Park: http://www.railsnw.com/tours/Durango/backpacking.htm#durango
YOu can then take the train back after your rendezvous and be back on trail.
This is south (west) of where the road crosses at Stony pass which would be a hitch. Not so easy of one but i've done it and i think the 3rd car picked me up and pretty much knew where i was going. It's been about 6 years since i've hiked this but i believe i have those names of passes correct. When i say south and north, i mean on the CDT although in reality i put the directions in parenthesis because the trail is making a big semi circle here following the actual divide.
PM me if i am not making sense.

It's one of the most beautiful sections of the whole CDT. ENjoy!

[budforester]

hey all, i'll be on the cdt thru colorado in late july, and will be stopping in at silverton to meet someone. looking at my map, it appears that its possible to hike down to town from the cdt on forest roads. i know its not a short distance, but i try to avoid hitching when possible. does anyone know what the easiest route down to silverton is?

also, if i did decide to hitch, where would one hitch from?

thanks a lot.

Take a look at the Elk Creek trail; comes down from CDT to Elk Park. The railroad mentions it (http://www.railsnw.com/tours/Durango/backpacking.htm#durango)on their site, so they might tell you how to connect with it on the CDT

[budforester]

Here is sjma link (http://www.sjma.org/)with contacts and resources.

Also a Forest service link (http://www.fs.fed.us/r2/sanjuan/recreation/trails/coltrails/animas/cctdivide.pdf)

Beautiful country; I wish I could go!