Travel: Trailhead parking is 1.6 miles west of the US 160/550 intersection. Park in a dirt lot on the north side of Hwy 160 just past the Giant gas station.
Distance and Elevation Gain:
Twin Buttes East: 6.6 miles; 1,300 feet of climbing
Twin Buttes West: add half a mile and 240 feet of vertical
Cliffrock Loop (2.7 miles): 7.3 mile stem and loop with 800 feet of elevation gain
Time: 2:30 to 4:00
Difficulty for the buttes: Trail, off-trail; navigation moderate; steep, loose, and brushy
Map: Durango West, Colorado 7.5 USGS Quad
Quote: Every green natural place we save saves a fragment of our sanity and gives us a little more hope that we have a future. Wallace Stegner.
Returning home from journeys afar, to see Twin Buttes, I've crossed the threshold.
Route: The black-line route is the quickest approach to the summit of Twin Buttes East. The blue-line route tackles Twin Buttes West. For those who prefer to stay on trails, the Cliffrock Loop is depicted in red and the west-side trails are purple.
The Twin Buttes Trails System includes ten miles of hiking and biking trails on 580 acres of city open space. The City of Durango began acquiring land adjacent to the Twin Buttes project and adjoining the Perins Peak State Wildlife Area in 2009. Further easements were negotiated with the Twin Buttes Development. Durango Trails volunteers planned and crafted the trails in 2012; they continue to maintain the treadway.
Seasonal closure for wildlife protection is December 1 to April 15. Climbing the buttes is off-limits during that time. Trails below the Green Tank remain open year-round.
A map of the trail system is located at the trailhead, elevation 6,658 feet. Study carefully--not all junctions in the interior are labeled. However, smart phone users may access the Durango Trails Interactive Map remotely. The Twin Buttes Trail, a dirt single track, switchbacks up a south-facing slope above the highway on a solid platform. Mountain bikers far out-number hikers and runners. Start early, especially on weekends. While hikers have the right of way, it is awkward for bikers to unclip and get going again so I always step aside to allow them unbroken passage.
In spring, the wildflower display is diverse and in places, showy. Naturalist John Bregar identified four dozen blooming plants in May, 2017. On the initial hillside look for a rich array of stemless evening primrose, deep blue flax, yellow bladderpod, pink filaree, and several species of milkvetch. Flowering shrubs include sweet-scented bitterbrush and cliff Fendlerbush, as well as serviceberry and chokecherry.
In a quarter mile the trail segues onto a two-track briefly. (This road was improved in autumn, 2017.) The trail system spins on and off a maze of old wagon roads and a railroad grade built in 1901 by Boston Coal & Fuel Company. They accessed historic coal operations at Boston Mine and the mining camp at Perins City. Watch for scattered chunks of coal on these abandoned haul roads. A tenth of a mile further along, hang a sharp right back onto the single track.
The grade eases and the path wanders into a shady forest which makes this passage pleasant even in summer months. Twin Buttes trails are in the gradational boundary between upper piñon-juniper woodland and the lower montane ecozone characterized by ponderosa pine. Among Gambel oak groves are both Rocky Mountain and Utah juniper, and box elder. There is an immense Douglas fir with a lightning scar down the length of its trunk. There are four varieties of sage; pinch some leaves and take a whiff.
Living in the open woods are patches of golden banner, several varieties of parsley, wild iris, fairy candelabra, bluebells, and flamboyant arrowleaf balsamroot flashing all about.
It is an incredibly pleasant stroll through a wondrous display of nature at the edge of town. Boulders are big. Birds drown out the highway. John Bregar identified 33 birds: delicate song birds, vibrant-hued birds, and raptors. Each bird is a player in the cacophonous orchestra. See the end of this essay for a complete bird list.
Walking on the thin dirt path is an intimate natural experience. Trail engineers deliberately wound the path around massive ponderosa and banked whoop-de-doos. On a bicycle, it feels like a roller coaster. The trail system is rated intermediate for mountain bikers. Even expert riders will be challenged on the west-side trails.
At 1.5 miles, go left onto the old railroad grade. This keeps you on the Twin Buttes Trail and off private property. In a short distance get back on the single track which shoots off to the right. Cross a sturdy plank bridge. The Twin Buttes Trail stays to the right of the Green Tank.
Pass through a meadowland with tassel-eared squirrels, a ponderosa pine obligate species. In this park-like setting and elsewhere in Twin Buttes be watchful for rattlesnakes who favor this region. Twin Buttes East looks mighty with cliffs armoring its southern escarpment.
In November, 2017, the junction with the Cliffrock Loop at 2.3 miles was signed as part of a local boy's Eagle Scout service project. Thank you! This delightful loop is described below.
To climb Twin Buttes East, turn left/west on the Upper BC&F Trail. At 2.7 miles, leave the road and go right on Upper Twin Buttes Trail. Before this sweet track existed it was a miserable oak bash to the summit of Twin Buttes East. While easy on hikers, mountain bikers call the 200 foot climb Vomit Hill because the grade never lets up.
Twin Buttes East
Reach a flat clearing on the northeast side of Twin Buttes East at 7,460 feet, 3.0 miles. This is a treasured location with views west to the La Plata Mountains and northeast to Perins Peak, a stone's throw away. Leave the trail to initiate the final push to the summit.
To skirt the worst of the oak thickets, walk south about 50 yards holding the contour on a game trail. The aspect shifts and there is less brush and more rock to work with. Locate an informal trail up the steep pitch. Footing is slippery and rocks are on the loose. Trekking poles are helpful.
Almost the entire hike takes place in the Mancos Shale, the ultra-thick predominate formation in Southwest Colorado. The boulders seen below have tumbled off the scarp band, making the ascent playful.
John Bregar identified the thin rampart armoring the summits of both buttes as Point Lookout Sandstone, named for the jutting northern platform at Mesa Verde National Park. The formation overlies Mancos Shale. It is the lowest member of the Mesa Verde Group, deposited in the Cretaceous era as the Western Interior Seaway receded. Upon reaching the caprock, move right to utilize a weakness in the cliffs.
Crest the flat-topped summit at 3.3 miles. The radiating vista is pure Durango: Perins Peak, Hogback, Raider Ridge, Telegraph Hill (shown below on a crystal clear day in November, 2017), the La Plata range and a sliver of Mountain View Crest. While Smelter Mountain may look taller, Twin Buttes East tops it by eleven feet. The peak register has several notebooks dating back decades.
It is a temptation to head directly over to Twin Buttes West, shown below, but it is a no-go. A nasty brush plunge puts you at the top of formidable Point Lookout cliffs.
Retrace your steps to the clearing at 3.6 miles. If you are not climbing Twin Buttes West, return as you came, or explore one of west-side trails detailed below.
Upper BC&F
From the clearing go west on the Upper Twin Buttes Trail. Beside the trail grows an astonishing, uncommon woodland star, a white saxifrage with multiple slender petals. Be sure to take note of the little clump of aspen tucked between the buttes on their north side, a hidden relic grove, pictured below. (Sadly, this little forest died sometime between 2017 and 2021.) A two-track crosses the trail at 3.9 miles. Turn left, circle Twin Buttes on the west and close the loop at the 4X4 post one mile from the clearing.
Upper Ed & Flo onto Mid Traverse
This is an alternative west-side tour. Start out as above and upon reaching the two-track continue straight. Walk toward the La Platas Mountains and then dive and twist into a boulder run-out zone. Come in the spring when tall, aromatic lupine put on an opulent show along Lupine Alley. Segue onto the Mid Traverse. It is 2.1 miles from the clearing to the Green Tank.
Twin Buttes West
You really have to want this one because it requires a brushy approach followed by a loose scramble. Few people make the short trek which heightens the cool factor. The shortest route from East to West is to downclimb on the upcoming route and just before hitting the clearing, curve around the north side of East. There's no way to avoid the annoying brush; wear long pants. Climb the unstable east-facing slope from the saddle.
Summit at 3.8 miles. The peak resister is just a few sheets of paper reaching back to the 1970's. Twin Buttes West presents a nice perspective on its slightly taller, cliff-ringed twin.
Plunge 380 feet off the east slope, south of the upcoming route and contact the Upper BC&F Trail. Turn east and rejoin the approach track at the 4X4 post.
Cliffrock Loop
The 2.7 mile loop makes a nice add-on to any hike in the Twin Buttes trail system. For those who prefer trails, this is an ideal 7.3 mile stem and loop from the trailhead, spanning two to three hours. Follow the directions above to the junction of the Twin Buttes Trail and the Cliffrock Loop at 2.3 miles. Continue straight/north and hike the loop counterclockwise.
The bucolic pathway rests on the tableland south of Perins Peak. There is a grand sense of openness cherished in the American West. Patches of gamble oak rise up from grassland. Towering, old growth ponderosa commune with each other from a polite distance. Pass by a perfectly symmetrical elder juniper. At the eastern edge of the hummock-laden table, the land drops away at an overview informally named Pleasure Point. While the view spans far and wide, most captivating is the deeply fluted shale on the rarely seen west side of the Hogback, a severe beauty.
The trail draws ever closer to Perins Peak. The eastern cliff face, pictured below, is Point Lookout Sandstone. Capping the highest part of the ridge is Cliff House Sandstone, the youngest member of the Mesa Verde Group. The formation was named for the Ancestral Puebloan habitation sites built in alcoves typically found in this layer. Cliff House Sandstone is underlain by the Menefee Formation where quality coal is found, hence the coal mine on the southwest side of the mountain. The Menefee is the source for the coal shoveled into Durango & Silverton Narrow Gauge Railroad locomotives.
The single track swings due wast and takes aim at Twin Buttes East
The Cliffrock Loop intersects the Twin Buttes Trail at 4.8 miles; turn left. Close the loop at 5.0 miles and make a hard right to return to the trailhead.
John Bregar's Twin Buttes Bird List, May, 2017
Turkey Vulture,
Red-tailed Hawk
Mourning Dove
Eurasian Collared Dove
White-throated Swift
Broad-tailed Hummingbird
Northern Flicker
Dusky Flycatcher
Plumbeous Vireo
Violet-green Swallow
Barn Swallow
Steller's Jay
Woodhouse's Scrub Jay
Black-billed Magpie
Common Raven
Black-capped Chickadee
Mountain Chickadee
White-breasted Nuthatch
Pygmy Nuthatch
House Wren
Blue-gray Gnatcatcher
Western Bluebird
Hermit Thrush
Townsend's Solitaire
American Robin
Virginia's Warbler
Yellow-rumped Warbler
Grace's Warbler
Chipping Sparrow
Spotted Towhee
Western Tanager
Black-headed Grosbeak
House Finch
Additional Twin Buttes Early Season Flowers
whiplash daisy
New Mexico groundsel
toadflax penstemon
false dandelion (native)
tansy mustard
native thistle
hawksbeard
mahonia
white peavine
fringed puccoon
mountain mahogany
alyssum
stickseed
phlox
orange globemallow
candytuft
rockcress
winged buckwheat
mule ears
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