The Pawnee Buttes are two sandstone towers that rise 300 feet above the shortgrass prairie of the Pawnee National Grassland in far northeastern Weld County, about 13 miles south of the Wyoming line. A 2-mile trail crosses the open plains to the West Butte, and the big-sky silence, nesting falcons and wide horizons make it one of the most surprising hikes in Colorado.

The buttes are what’s left of layers of sediment that once covered this part of the High Plains. Over millions of years, wind and water carried away the surrounding land, while harder caprock protected the two towers, leaving them standing alone above the grass. The crumbling cliffs are home to nesting hawks, eagles and falcons, and the grassland around them is famous among birders for its prairie species. The buttes are so iconic that author James Michener featured them in his novel Centennial. Today they sit inside the Pawnee National Grassland, managed by the U.S. Forest Service, a patchwork of public prairie mixed with private ranch land where cattle still graze.

The Pawnee Buttes Trail starts at a small trailhead with vault toilets and picnic tables, then drops off the escarpment and rolls across the prairie for about 2 miles to the base of the West Butte. The East Butte stands on private land, so enjoy it from a distance. The Forest Service asks hikers not to climb the buttes or the bluffs along the trail, since the sandstone crumbles easily, and the trail is closed to mountain bikes, though horses are welcome. There is no shade and no water, so this is a hike for cool mornings and evenings, when the light turns the buttes gold and the wind-swept grass glows. On the drive in, you’ll pass windmills, stock tanks and miles of quiet county roads.

The Forest Service closes the Overlook, the Lips Bluff Trail and the area within 200 yards of the bottom of Lips Bluff from March 1 to June 30 each year to protect nesting raptors, but the main Pawnee Buttes Trail stays open. Rain and snow can make the gravel roads to the trailhead difficult, so check the Pawnee Buttes Trailhead page for alerts before you head out.