Mt Buckskin Colorado 13er Hike Guide
Mt Buckskin is a short out and back hike located in the Mosquito Range of Colorado. A class 2 hike, Mt Buckskin is a great alternative to the CF that exists on Mt Cameron, Mt Lincoln, Mt Democrat and Mt Bross. Trail conditions range from packed dirt to rock fields with a very small portion of this hike containing an actual trail. Mt Buckskin is a centennial (highest 100) in Colorado as well as the 23rd highest 13er in the state.
Mt Buckskin Quick Facts
Virtual Trail Guide: Mt Buckskin
Mt Buckskin Rating: ★★ (2/5 Stars)
Distance: 3.5 Miles RT
Elevation Start: 12,000 ft
Highest Point: 13,872 ft
Total Elevation Gain: 1,900 ft
Estimated Time to Complete: 3-4 Hours RT
Difficulty: Moderate What does this mean?
Class: Class 2
Season: July – October (Expect snow outside of this period)
Directions to Mt Buckskin
Trailhead: Kite Lake
Getting Here: Take US CO-9 into Alma. Once you are in the small community of Alma, look for a sign indicating Kite Lake/Road 8. Take this road about 5.5 miles until you reach Kite Lake. The road can have variable conditions and the last ½ -¼ mile can be very tricky to navigate without a high clearance vehicle. Luckily though, you can enter “Kite Lake Trailhead” into your favorite navigation to help get you there.
Fees: $3 – Stop at the first station to grab the envelope, that way you can park wherever and not have to backtrack to your car.
Parking: “Honor” based parking is available at the TH of Mt Buckskin. The fee is $3 (as of 2018) and you can pay at the station near the Kite Lake campground bathrooms or at the first station when you are driving in. There are a ton of spots to park, but this area will get very busy on almost all spring, summer, and fall weekends and even some weekdays.
Summary
Camping: There are 5 – 10 camping spots along Kite Lake that generally fill up pretty quickly. The fee is about $20 to camp here. If those spots fill up, technically you can camp near your car or deeper in the Mt Buckskin basin, but be careful because much of the land surrounding Mt Buckskin is private.
Dogs: Mt Buckskin is an okay hike to bring your dog along, but expect super variable conditions for you and your dog. In terms of other people, the trail is very quiet, so you most likely will have the mountain all to yourselves. The trail starts with packed dirt but quickly goes away which leaves you to find your own route in rock fields and the grass slopes of Mt Buckskin.
Make it a Loop: Mt Buckskin is an out and back hike, but you could easily add Mt Democrat, Mt Lincoln & Mt Bross if you were looking to hike some more.
Trail X Factors: Secluded/No Trail
Unlike the “decalibron” located in the same basin, Mt Buckskin is a secluded hike. In fact, don’t be surprised to have the entire mountain to yourself when you hike it. Juno and I visited Mt Buckskin on a busy fall weekend where the line up Mt Democrat could be seen from the drive in. However, when we reached Kite Lake and headed left, we had the entire basin and mountain entirely to ourselves.
Like many 13ers in Colorado, Mt Buckskin did not have a defined trail for 90% of the hike. When hiking this mountain, you need to be familiar with route finding and okay with having to make your own best line up the mountain. Mt Buckskin presents a number of possibilities for gaining its southern ridge, so the choice is yours!
Hike Tip(s): If you plan on visiting Mt Buckskin, be sure to have shoes that have good support. While there are many sections of the hike that have solid ground, there are also large portions of the hike up the eastern slopes that contain loose dirt and a ton of gravel fields. If your footwear is poor, it would be very easy to roll an ankle in this variable terrain.
Best Views: The views on Mt Buckskin are not stellar. However, I would say that the best views are of the basin below, including neighboring Mt Democrat which has a cool high alpine lake located on its southern side. Once on the ridge line, views south west were probably my favorite.
Mt Buckskin Hike Route
Gear Needed
- 14er Day Hike Packing List
- Men’s Trail Runners
- Women’s Trail Runners
- La Sportiva Trango Hiking Boots (Men’s)
- La Sportiva Trango Hiking Booths (Women’s)
- Backpack
- Food & Water
- Optional: Garmin inReach
- Optional: Hiking Poles
- Optional: Headlamp
- Optional: Garmin Fenix Watch
- Optional: Camera and Lens
- Optional: GoPro, Joby Tripod
- *Links included in this description might be affiliate links. If you purchase a product or service with the links that I provide I may receive a small commission. There is no additional charge to you.
My Trip to Mt Buckskin: September 2018
Jackie was gone for the weekend, so I decided to take Juno out for a little hike before heading up to my favorite brewery. In an effort to keep knocking out 13ers and centennials near home, Mt Buckskin was our goal for the day. We left around 12PM on a Saturday afternoon and ran into horrible traffic on 285. God, there are too man damn people on this earth. After sitting in awful traffic for the better part of 45 minutes, we finally arrived to Kite Lake around 2:30PM. Per my expectations, Kite Lake trailhead was an utter clusterfuck, but we found a parking spot near the TH and started the short hike.
It had been a long time since I had been to Kite Lake, the last time was about 3 years ago. Juno and I walked past the hundred or so cars near the Mt Democrat trail start and took a left to head into the basin in front of Mt Buckskin. I knew that most Colorado 13ers are not heavily trafficked, but was surprised to see that there appeared to be no one else on this side of the basin, yet alone Mt Buckskin itself. We followed the packed dirt trail into the basin and ended up heading too far up. I thought that we followed the trail for most of the way, but it turns out we had to make our way across a massive field in order to gain the eastern slopes of the mountain. After some backtracking, we found what looked like a trail and headed up the steep gravel slope.
After a couple of switchbacks, the “trail” abruptly ended, so I decided to pick a line and head straight up the slopes. We hiked through solid grass slopes which were peppered with rock fields across the side of the mountain. Although there was no trail, it was pretty easy to see the entire line up towards the ridge line, so Juno and I slowly hiked up. Although this hike was short, the elevation gain was relentless and steady. We continued working up the steep slopes of Mt Buckskin, eventually reaching the ridge line about an hour later. I was a bit frustrated because of the pockets of loose rock and gravel which led to a few slides and me stepping on Juno’s tail by accident. I was relieved to reach the ridge line, but we were greeted with whipping winds and lackluster views. If there was a positive, it was that we had the mountain to entirely to ourselves.
We hiked along the ridge line for about a hundred yards and reached the summit of Mt Buckskin shortly after. There was not summit registry, no huge cairn pile, and really no signs of humans at all. This kind of summit reminded me of so many back in New England which are very easy to miss if you were not looking for them. Juno and I had some water and a couple of snacks before heading back down the steep grassy slopes.
When we reached the car, most of the cars from the “decalibron” hikers had departed and the scene at Kite Lake was much less hectic. Overall, Mt Buckskin was a nice short hike and a good afternoon spent outside. However, I didn’t love our time on the mountain. I don’t mind the lack of trail, but Class 2 hiking on a steep grassy slope is not exactly my idea of fun. I was happy to have knocked out another centennial, but would probably not be back to Mt Buckskin in the future.
