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Buff Creek Loop: Pine Lake Trailhead

RECOMMENDED ROUTE
Intermediate Intermediate
 4.2 (98)
  1. Areas
  2. CO
  3. …Front Range
  4. …Pine
  5. Pine Valley Ranch Park
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“A nice tour of popular Buffalo Creek trails on the NW side of the area - from Pine Lake Park. ”

Michael Ahnemann
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Map Key

20.8

Miles

33.4

KM

90%

Singletrack

8,049' 2,453 m

High

6,868' 2,093 m

Low

2,419' 737 m

Up

2,422' 738 m

Down

4%

Avg Grade (3°)

18%

Max Grade (10°)

Dogs Leashed

E-Bikes Not Allowed

Overview

There are many, many ways to ride Buffalo Creek. The area is bordered to the east, south, and west by the Colorado Trail, and there are many interconnected 2-5 mile trails making up the rest of the system.

The ride as described here starts from the beautiful Pine Valley Ranch Park, with parking, bathrooms, a picnic area, and popular fishing spots. It then follows several of the more popular trails on the north, working its way south, then eventually back up to the starting pint.

Most of the trails in Buffalo Creek have a similar feel. It's generally an intermediate area that beginners can ride much of. The long steady climbs add to the difficulty a bit, but trails are generally smooth and non-technical with a few exceptions. The surface is often sandy and loose, adding challenge to the descents if you're flying, but the flow is pretty good everywhere.

Need to Know

Trails are mostly well-marked here, so if you have a map with you, or the MTB Project app, you can find your way around pretty well. There's no wrong way to ride Buffalo Creek, although some trails are better in one direction than the other, so check the individual trail descriptions and do a little planning for a better-flowing ride.

There's quite a lot of climbing and descending in this area - the trails aren't usually flat for long. Keep that in mind when you're out on the trails. If you're getting tired, you might not to descend that 2 mile trail in front of you, because that probably means 2 miles or more of steady climbing to get back.

There are plenty of bail-out points, and places to hit the road for an easy return, or trailheads and campgrounds where you can grab some water if you need it.

Description

To start, Access Buck Gulch from the beautiful Pine Valley Ranch Park, with parking, bathrooms, picnic area, and popular fishing spots. Cruise along the river on the Narrow Gauge trail until you take a left over the large bridge and see Buck Gulch in front of you.

In a short distance you'll reach the intersection with Strawberry Jack to the left. But continue uphill to the right, going over some very steep sections. It's uphill the whole way, but the angle gets much easier near the top.

Next, take a left on Skipper. It quickly descends through a burn zone, with the same sandy, loose trail surface as much of the area. The scenery is great during the first 1/3 of the trail, as you're descending through the remnants of a burned forest, with open views as a result. You'll descend to a very minor creek crossing (with a makeshift log bridge) in deep forest with a sharp climb out of the creek.

After this, there's more green forest with very little burn remnants, then a short, flat blast through the forest to a big intersection with Strawberry Jack heading in two directions, and Homestead Trail.

Take a right to follow Strawberry Jack south. It's a bit of a climb from here, but not particularly steep. This section goes through mostly unburned forest, climbing gently to the intersection with Miller Gulch. (If you see a Charlie's Cutoff branch off to the left before you reach Miller Gulch, skip it. You'll come back here later).

When you reach a two track (Miller Gulch), take a right. Miller Gulch is an uninteresting flat road, but you'll only be on it 100 yards or so until you see Gashouse on your left. Take a left on Gashouse (the first trail you come to on the left). You'll ride Gashouse in the generally preferred direction (mostly downhill!)

Gashouse starts out relatively flat through thick green forest, looping around a bit. Then it gets into a brief rocky section, switching from nice tacky singletrack to a rocky section that's rideable by intermediates, through an aspen grove and pretty quickly descends to the junction with Redskin Creek Trail and a nearby trailhead that you could drive to if you wanted to.

Then you'll descend from here back into the burn zone. The last section has big views and a fun twisty descent that flows well at speed, but is often sandy and washed out a bit making some of the tighter turns a sketchy if you come at them too quickly.

What goes down must go back up again. Next, you'll take a left to continue up Baldy. (There's also a bailout point along the road here if you need an easy escape). Going east to west, this is a solid, but totally rideable climb up a smooth trail with small amounts of pea gravel. A couple sections cross large flat expanses of granite - fun and easily rideable.

Reach a saddle and then cruise on much flatter, fun terrain until the trail meets back up with Gashouse at the intersection you started from earlier.

This time, retrace your steps a bit along Miller Gulch, and stay left at the first fork to retrace 100 yards of Strawberry Jack. Take a right on Charlie's Cutoff. This short trail is fun from top to bottom, and I only wish it were longer. There's definitely a preferred direction on this one, which is DOWNHILL from Strawberry Jack to Homestead Trail. There are several rock features along the way - everything is rideable, and expert riders will barely slow down.

You'll descend to a T with Homestead trail (more climbing!) This trail rolls up and down, but never too steeply or for very long. The descents are fast and flowing, and not very steep, so you can go quite fast.

Finally, make a right on Strawberry Jack and blast mostly downhill, with just one more short climb stuck in the middle. Descend all the way back down to the intersection with Buck Gulch, then descend Buck Gulch back to the bridge you crossed to start the ride.

Soak your tired legs in the creek - you're finished!

Contacts

Local Club: Colorado Mountain Bike Association

Land Manager: USFS - Pike National Forest - South Platte Ranger District

Shared By:

Michael Ahnemann with improvements by s platte and 1 other
Full Details

Trail Ratings

  4.2 from 98 votes

#1

in Pine Valley Ranch Park

#32

Overall
  4.2 from 98 votes
5 Star
44%
4 Star
40%
3 Star
13%
2 Star
2%
1 Star
1%
Recommended Route Rankings

#1

in Pine Valley Ranch Park

#7

in Colorado

#32

Overall
94 Views Last Month
136,528 Since May 25, 2013
Intermediate Intermediate
1%
1%
85%
7%
4%
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Add a Photo

Photos

Mal on a rock slab on Charlie's Cutoff
May 29, 2019 near Pine, CO
The burn allows you to see for a long way, giving this an eerily peaceful feeling.
Mar 18, 2016 near Pine, CO
At the top!
Jun 6, 2014 near Pine, CO
Super fun roll down
Aug 25, 2024 near Pine, CO
The bigger line on Baldy Rock drop.
May 30, 2016 near Pine, CO
Charlies Cutoff - the best trail in Buffalo Creek is unfortunately one of the shortest!
May 25, 2013 near Pine, CO

11 Comments

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Weather

Current Trail Conditions

All Clear 54 days ago
Add Your Check-In

Check-Ins

Aug 23, 2023
Aaron H
Awesome ride. Gashouse decent was amazing. — 2h 30m
Jun 10, 2023
J Roberts
Perfect trail conditions after the rain we've had 21mi
May 29, 2023
raminta kizyte
Ran out of water. Lots of loose sand. Had to walk up hill a bunch. — 5h 00m
May 7, 2023
Bryan Carter
All clear 21mi
Sep 11, 2022
Courtney Grey
Jun 5, 2022
Ryan Hickman
Oct 24, 2021
Lior Y
2752f 21.1m. 2:30h 21.1mi
Oct 9, 2021
Daniel Ives
Leaves are on point right now. 20mi — 2h 30m

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