Buffalo Mountain Trail

Buffalo Mountain is the rounded 12,777-foot dome that fills the view west from Silverthorne and Dillon, and the trail up it is the one popular summit hike in the Gore Range: 3 miles each way from a residential street in Wildernest, with 2,900 feet of gain, half of it on a steep boulder field. The summit view runs from Dillon Reservoir and the Tenmile Range to the jagged Gore peaks behind.

From the Buffalo Cabin trailhead at the top of Ryan Gulch Road, the trail climbs through lodgepole past the ruins of the old Buffalo cabin, about half a mile in. It then steepens through spruce and a band of standing dead timber, switchbacking hard, until it breaks out of the trees around 11,000 feet at the foot of a wide boulder field.

The upper half is the workout: a cairned route straight up the talus, Class 2, with big stable rocks low and smaller loose ones near the top. Above the boulders the angle eases onto a broad tundra summit plateau, and the high point is a cairn at the west end. Mountain goats are usually somewhere on the plateau. Return the same way; the boulder field is slower going down than up.

From I-70 exit 205 in Silverthorne, take Wildernest Road and Ryan Gulch Road up through the subdivision to the top, where the Buffalo Cabin trailhead is signed at about 9,750 feet. Parking is on the street, is limited, and is enforced; do not block driveways. The Summit Stage bus stops in Wildernest below the trailhead. No fee or permit; the trail enters the Eagles Nest Wilderness above the cabin.

Dogs are allowed on leash in the wilderness, but the Forest Service says the trail is not recommended for them: the talus is sharp enough to cut pads, and many dogs stop at the trees. Horses are allowed only on the first mile. No overnight parking at the trailhead. Not a kid hike. Carry two liters; there is no water on the route. Poles help on the descent and a helmet is reasonable for the loose upper talus. Silverthorne and Dillon have every service 10 minutes away. Lily Pad Lake, the easy wilderness lake, starts from a trailhead a few hundred yards down the same street and is the better choice on a stormy afternoon. The Gore Range page covers the rest.