Ute trail became a wagon road in the 1860s providing transport to Leadville mining camp. In 1872 the old wagon road through Ute Pass started at Rainbow Falls, or Ute Pass Falls. The Colorado Midland Railway had tracks through the Ute Pass to Leadville and Aspen beginning in 1888. Service was later extended to Cripple Creek. Once the mining industry declined, the railroad tracks were removed.