Arapaho and Roosevelt National Forests · Colorado

Buttes

2.2 mi of trail, end to end · native material surface · trail No. 601 · trail class 3 · typical grade 5-8% · tread 18-24 inches wide · hiking, bike, horse

Trailhead Pawnee Buttes Trailhead Drive there

Pawnee Buttes Trailhead the Forest Service's write-up

The Pawnee Buttes are located in the northeast corner of Weld County, Colorado, approximately 13 miles south of the Wyoming border. A predominant geologic feature within the Pawnee National Grassland, the Buttes rise 300 feet above the prairie.

A 2 mile trail leads hikers to the first Butte. The second Butte is on private land. As the rock is crumbling sandstone, climbing on the Buttes is not recommended.

Take a hat, sunscreen, and plenty of water, as temperatures may top one hundred degrees in July and August.

Please do not disturb any hawks and falcons nesting in the rocky cliffs. The Pawnee Buttes trail is open year round; however, there is a nearby closure annually from March 1 – June 30 to protect any nesting raptors. To clearly understand what is closed, check this map . Please stay on the main trail during this time as adults may desert their eggs or young birds if disturbed.

Restrictions Please do not try to climb the bluffs along the trail, as that will cause resource damage. The trail is off limits to mountain bikes.&nbsp;<br /><br />The Overlook, the Lips Bluff trail and 200 yards from the bottom of Lips Bluff are closed to public access March 1 - June 30 to protect the nesting hawks, eagles and falcons. Please remain on the designated Pawnee Buttes Trail during the closure period to minimize disturbance to the nesting birds.

This trailhead on fs.usda.gov

Every trail in Arapaho and Roosevelt National Forests

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About this trail's facts

The lines are the US Forest Service's National Forest System trails layer (public domain), read 2026-10-16 and simplified for the map; the length is the line's, end to end, and the class, surface, grade and tread width are the forest's own entries where it publishes them - a forest that publishes the centreline alone has none. The trailheads and the points along the way are the Service's recreation points, and the write-ups its own recarea text, unedited. Heights come from USGS 3DEP through Terrain Tiles on AWS (Mapzen/Tilezen), read along each line and rounded; a short trail on steep ground can be off by a few tens of feet. Closures change: check the forest's own site before you go.