Buckhorn starts at a 3 way intersection with
Outie and
North Porcupine, and finds its way all the way down to the
Rio Grande Trail, passing by the optional (but recommended!)
Buck Down trail, and then passing through a 3 way intersection with
Buckhorn Traverse.
Buckhorn starts at its west end with a 1/2 mile climb up to sharp left turn (where a connector trail to Lower
Outie is a straight/right turn option). Continuing on Buckhorn with a slight descent through fast, winding singletrack, with short but fast climbs along the way, followed by plenty of berms that work well for climbing up, and more than ok while descending. You'll encounter scrub oak, sage fields, and pinyon-juniper, and big views towards the floor of the Roaring Fork valley, and terrain of Basalt Mountain in the distance.
On the lowest portion of this trail, you'll find the Lower Buckhorn (2016 Reroute) portion of the trail. This 1.6 mile lowest portion was built in 2016 to replace a steep and rutted utility corridor which also passed through private land. Now fully on BLM land, the trail rides really well both up and down, with grades that you can stomp up, grade reversals you can air out on the way down, and tight turns and some steep bits to keep your game face on. You'll mostly flow through sage meadows and pinion juniper terrain between
Buckhorn Traverse and the
Rio Grande Trail. An additional short reroute also came into place in 2024 to make way for the new
Buck Down (downhill only parallel option).
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