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An amazing hike circumnavigating Buffalo Mountain, over Eccles Pass.


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Map Key

13.4

Miles

21.6

KM

83%

Runnable

11,833' 3,607 m

High

9,587' 2,922 m

Low

2,976' 907 m

Up

2,960' 902 m

Down

8%

Avg Grade (5°)

41%

Max Grade (22°)

Dogs Leashed

Features Birding · Commonly Backpacked · Fall Colors · Lake · River/Creek · Views · Waterfall · Wildflowers · Wildlife

Overview

There's a pretty substantial amount of vert on this hike, ~3,100ft! Look for the beautiful field of paintbrush flowers in the back that you need to catch in bloom. Such a great loop, the Gore Range Trail is simply awesome.

Rocky at parts, rolling singletrack at parts, this route takes you to the back of Buffalo on the Gore Range Trail. Yes, you can expect downed trees, it's the Gore!

Need to Know

This route is in the Eagles Nest Wilderness and you'll need to follow restrictions including keeping all dogs on leash.

Description

Make sure you bring your A-game for the climb to Eccles Pass...
The route starts on Buffalo Cabin Trail is relatively mellow and brings you through a thick forested section of trees. Traverse along an old aqueduct and down onto the South Willow Falls Crossover bringing you up to the waterfalls! Parts of this section can be demanding with some steeper rocky parts that require your full attention. Once you pass the falls and are heading up behind Buffalo on the Gore Range Trail you can expect plenty more vert and eventually some smooth rolling singletrack once you're fully behind Buffalo.

Finally, you'll pass the junction to Red Buffalo Pass at about 5 miles in, but continue on straight following the beautiful singletrack winding around the several small high alpine lakes. Then you'll begin the climb to Eccles Pass which is very steep and rocky, this will slow ya down quite a bit! Take in the views at the top of the Tenmile range, Gore range and Deming Peak before you begin your descent into the meadow creek valley. This downhill section is open and easy singletrack that you can really kick it into high gear with.

Make sure to stay on Meadow Creek Trail once you're down from Eccles ~7 miles into your journey, unless you're feeling up for another big climb on the Gore Range Trail!

You'll cross over the creek a couple of times, then head back into the forest, descending towards the lily pad lake junction. At mile 11.1 you'll follow the well-signed trail split left towards the lake and follow the cruiser trail all the way back to the car.


Buffalo Cabin Trail --> South Willow Falls Crossover --> Gore Range Trail --> Meadow Creek Trail --> Lily Pad Lake and then some and back to the car!

Contacts

Shared By:

Matthew Coye with improvements by Kelley Dearing and 1 other

Trail Ratings

  4.8 from 61 votes

#113

Overall
  4.8 from 61 votes
5 Star
77%
4 Star
21%
3 Star
2%
2 Star
0%
1 Star
0%
Recommended Route Rankings

#35

in Colorado

#113

Overall
66 Views Last Month
50,047 Since Mar 14, 2015
Intermediate/Difficult Intermediate/Difficult

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Photos

From Eccles Pass, enjoy this view looking back at the South Willow Creek drainage.
Jul 5, 2017 near Frisco, CO
One more view of Red before dropping down the other side of Eccles Pass
Mar 14, 2015 near Frisco, CO
The mighty Buffalo Mountain from Eccles Pass
Mar 29, 2021 near Frisco, CO
Ten Mile Range from Meadow Creek Trail.
Mar 29, 2021 near Frisco, CO
Ten Mile Range seems within arms length from Gore Range /Meadow Creek trails.
Mar 29, 2021 near Frisco, CO
SUCH a beautiful run.  One of the ponds up high, and another excellent view of Red Mountain.
Mar 14, 2015 near Silvert…, CO
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Weather


Current Trail Conditions

All Clear 98 days ago
Add Your Check-In

Check-Ins

Jul 16, 2023
Matt Monty
Jul 4, 2023
Jordan G
Wildflowers coming in strong. Always a favorite! Parked at Meadow Creek TH. 14.4mi — 3h 40m
Sep 26, 2022
Trent Hillier
Jul 26, 2022
Sabrina Rateike
13.4mi — 3h 45m
Sep 19, 2021
Belen Monteagudo
Buffalo mountain loop + Red peak 18.5mi — 7h 00m
Jul 17, 2021
Tiest van Gool
Beautiful trail around Buffalo Mountain. Trail is technical in nature. 13.2mi — 3h 57m
Oct 17, 2020
merrion13
13.6mi — 4h 00m
Sep 5, 2020
Stephen K
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