buckhorn trail

My husband and I attempted to hike the Buckhorn Trail in the North Unit of Theodore Roosevelt National Park. I use the word "attempted" because the trail is not very well marked. We lost the trail, seemed to make up our own trail and later found the trail no where near where we thought we were. The park maps are just OK. I would suggest purchasing a National Geographic topo map...we wished we had purchased it! We did take our GPS which I would highly recommend. Do not assume the more well traveled trail is the one you should take...that's how we got lost shortly after Prairie Dog town (0.35 miles after the Northern boundary sign at Prairie Dog town). Overall, we hiked 10 miles, about half on our made up trail. We started in the morning and it took a little over 5 hours and the temperature that day started in the mid-50s and got up to the mid-70s. Together, we went through a gallon of water (almost 4 liters).Trailhead is at Cannonball Concretions Pullout and starts a short way in from the parking...trail does not seem to start or cross the road as the park map would indicate.We saw tons of buffalo. We saw a lot of these buffalo before, at, and after Prairie Dog town. Buffalo seemed to really like the trail so we actually had to get off the trail and go around them multiple times! We saw tons or prairie dogs at Prairie Dog town!We would recommend that you wear long pants versus shorts due to the high grasses. We also used gaiters and our hiking poles came in handy a time or two. If it has rained within the last day or two, portions of the trail can be quite muddy and very slippery. We would recommend the 10 hiking essentials and plenty of water and sunscreen (which, of course, are 2 of the 10 essentials).Gorgeous views and definitely worth the hike. Based on the trail register only about a dozen folks hike this trail per week. A lot of the trail markers have been knocked down and you cannot necessarily see one trail marker to the next...certainly needs some improvement from the Park.

the buckhorn trail was also recommended to us rather than the "dangerous Achenbach Trail" after the rains. the trail has some hissl to climb and a creek to cross quite a few times, which was hard due to the fact it had rained!also the bentonite makes it quite slippery on some of the paths! but overall it is a wonderful experience, just remember that it is not just a hop skip and a jump away, so come with food and water, and be prepared to hike for a while =)

This was a nice trail that was recommended to us as a shorter, easier alternative to the Achenbach Trail. The trail starts out pretty level taking you through lots of sagebrush and crossing a little creek repeatedly. The first prairie dog town is an entertaining stop just a few miles into the hike. Watch your step there is lots of buffalo dung as this trail is frequented by herds of buffalo -- on our trip we began following a herd of buffalo. As you climb up to a plateau you get some nice views of the valley you so recently hiked through. Keep your eyes peeled for deer--we saw several bounding up the side of the slopes. There is little shelter anywhere on the trail so come prepared with at least two gallons of water a person if not plenty more. The prairie atop the plateau has plenty of great views (though you can catch glimpses of distant roads) and on our trip we finally caught up to that herd of buffalo we had been following -- they were resting directly in front of one of the trail marker posts -- and we carefully detoured around them. There is also another prairie dog town atop the plateau. There is a hard to find well located nearbye though it was not recomended due to its proximity to the border of the park. The descent down from the plateau is steep but easy, from here there is a decent amount of up and down when you reach the bottom and the views are not as far reaching as they had been at the beginning. The hike loses a little bit of its luster after this point when you reach the road. The trail follows closely to the road and runs along the perimeter fence to the park. This is unsightly and takes away a little from all of the great solitude and primitive feel that the trail has to offer. At this point you may want to keep an eye out for longhorn steers. We were pretty shocked to see these fellows sitting along the trail giving us the evil eye as we passed them -- very carefully. Overall the hike offers plenty of great opportunities to see wildlife -- both big and small -- very up close and personal with no artificial boundries or safe guards. The terrain can be mildly challenging with some decent climbs but the most challenging aspect is certainly the heat and unshielded climate of the trail. Enjoy the hike and the beautiful area but make sure you are hydrated going in and have lots of water so that you aren't walking the final miles thirsty.