Pawnee Buttes

The Pawnee Buttes, in the Pawnee National Grassland of northeastern Colorado’s Weld County, are the most iconic landmarks of Colorado’s shortgrass prairie — two isolated sandstone and siltstone buttes (East Butte and West Butte) rising 250 feet above the rolling shortgrass prairie, visible for 20 miles in every direction across the flat, windswept landscape of the Colorado-Wyoming border grassland.

The Pawnee Buttes are one of the finest prairie-raptor nesting sites in the Great Plains — ferruginous hawks, prairie falcons, golden eagles, Swainson’s hawks, and long-billed curlews nest on and near the buttes each spring, creating an extraordinary nesting-raptor spectacle in a landscape most visitors overlook in their rush to the mountains. The buttes were immortalized in James Michener’s novel “Centennial” (1974). The Pawnee Buttes are a treasured natural icon of Colorado’s eastern plains.

Spring (April through June) is the finest season for the raptor nesting spectacle — ferruginous hawks are on their nests on the butte cliffs (the area around the buttes is closed within 0.25 miles during nesting season — respect all closures), prairie falcons are nesting on the cliff faces, long-billed curlews are displaying in the grassland, and the buttes area is alive with nesting raptor activity. This is one of the finest raptor-nesting spectacles in the Great Plains. Fall (September through November) brings migrant raptors (ferruginous hawks migrating south, prairie falcons, and golden eagles in the grassland), and the grassland turns golden. Summer is hot and dry but the grassland birds (horned larks, western meadowlarks, lark buntings) are present. Spring for the raptor nesting is the highlight.

The Pawnee Buttes have been landmarks of the shortgrass prairie since the prehistoric era — the Pawnee people (whose name the grassland bears) and other Great Plains peoples used the buttes as landmarks and gathering places for thousands of years. The buttes area was homesteaded in the late 19th and early 20th centuries; the homesteads largely failed during the droughts of the 1930s (the Dust Bowl devastated northeastern Colorado’s farming communities), and the federal government purchased the failed farmland and re-seeded it as the Pawnee National Grassland (one of the 20 national grasslands administered by the USFS). James Michener set key scenes of his novel “Centennial” at the Pawnee Buttes, giving the landscape national cultural recognition. The grassland represents the recovery of a dramatically abused agricultural landscape.

The Pawnee Buttes are erosional remnants of the Ogallala Formation (Miocene-Pliocene, approximately 5-10 million years old) — a massive sheet of gravel, sand and siltstone deposited by streams eroding the Rocky Mountains eastward across the Great Plains. The Ogallala Formation once covered a broad area; differential erosion has removed most of the formation from the Colorado shortgrass prairie, leaving only these buttes as erosional remnants where the underlying Pierre Shale (Cretaceous marine shale) is capped by the harder Ogallala sandstone, protecting the buttes from further erosion while the surrounding plain erodes away. The buttes are exposing the paleontological richness of the Ogallala (fossil mammal bones from the Miocene fauna — ancient horses, camels, rhinoceroses — are found in the formation). The Ogallala Formation cap, the Pierre Shale base, the differential erosion, and the prairie wind created the buttes landscape.

The Pawnee Buttes are one of the finest raptor nesting sites on the Great Plains — ferruginous hawk (the largest North American hawk; nesting on the butte ledges and in old eagle nests on the surrounding prairie in spring), prairie falcon (nesting on the butte cliff faces), golden eagle (nesting on the buttes and soaring over the grassland), Swainson’s hawk (migrating and nesting in the grassland), burrowing owl (nesting in prairie-dog colonies throughout the grassland), long-billed curlew (displaying in the short-grass in April and May), mountain plover (state-threatened in Colorado; nesting in the heavily grazed prairie), McCown’s longspur and chestnut-collared longspur (nesting in the grassland), and western meadowlark (the iconic prairie song). Prairie dogs (black-tailed prairie dog; abundant in the grassland) are the keystone species.

The Pawnee National Grassland is one of the best examples of restored Great Plains shortgrass prairie in the western Great Plains — the formerly cultivated homestead lands have largely recovered their native shortgrass prairie character (blue grama, buffalo grass, needle-and-thread, prairie dropseed) after decades of USFS management. The prairie-dog town ecosystem (black-tailed prairie dogs and their associated species — burrowing owls, swift foxes, ferruginous hawks, rattlesnakes — using prairie-dog burrows and feeding on prairie dogs) is the keystone community of the grassland. The mountain plover (which requires heavily grazed short-grass prairie — the shortest available grass height — for nesting) is a conservation-dependent species. Maintaining the native shortgrass prairie character, the prairie-dog colonies and the raptor nesting habitat sustains the ecological value.

The Pawnee Buttes hold a unique place among Colorado’s natural icons — the most iconic landmarks of the state’s often-overlooked eastern plains, the finest raptor-nesting spectacle in the Great Plains, a landscape immortalized by James Michener’s “Centennial,” and one of the finest shortgrass prairie birding destinations in the American West. For Coloradans who rush to the mountains and overlook their own eastern plains, the Pawnee Buttes offer a profound surprise — a vast, windswept, sky-dominated landscape of rare ecological richness and understated beauty. The Pawnee Buttes are a cherished natural icon of Colorado.

The Pawnee Buttes are in Weld County, northeastern Colorado, about 65 miles northeast of Fort Collins and 35 miles north of Greeley. From Briggsdale (the nearest town), drive north on County Road 77, then east on County Road 120 to the Pawnee Buttes Trailhead (approximately 10 miles of dirt road — passable by passenger car in dry conditions; high-clearance recommended when wet). The USFS Pawnee Ranger District in Greeley has current access and road condition information. No fee for access. The nearest services are in Briggsdale (limited) or Ault (20 miles south). Check USFS for current raptor nesting closures (the buttes area may be closed within 0.25 miles during nesting season) before visiting.

The USFS manages Pawnee National Grassland. The raptor nesting areas around the buttes are closed to visitor access within 0.25 miles during the nesting season (typically March through June) to protect ferruginous hawks, prairie falcons and golden eagles from disturbance — respect all closure signs absolutely (raptor nest disturbance can cause abandonment of eggs or chicks). Prairie-dog colonies are the keystone ecosystem feature; support management programs that protect the prairie dogs from sylvatic plague (which periodically devastates prairie-dog colonies). The mountain plover is state-threatened; do not drive or walk through any short-grass areas marked with mountain-plover warning signs in spring. Pack out all trash.

The Pawnee Buttes area is extremely remote (no cell service; limited emergency access); carry a first-aid kit, extra water and a paper map. The dirt roads to the buttes can become impassable muddy tracks after rain (the gumbo clay of the eastern Colorado plains is notoriously adhesive when wet; if the roads are wet, wait for them to dry or risk being stuck). Summer thunderstorms on the treeless plains can be severe (the buttes are the highest points for miles; avoid being near or on the buttes during lightning; take shelter in your vehicle). Western diamondback and prairie rattlesnakes are present in the grassland; watch where you step. Respect the remote location, the mud roads and the prairie rattlesnakes.

No fee for access (Pawnee National Grassland is public land). Raptor nesting closures apply around the buttes in spring (typically March-June; check USFS for current closure status before visiting — the closure boundary is posted at the trailhead). Do not collect any fossils or rocks. Shooting is permitted in the national grassland (check USFS for current rules and designated shooting areas); wear blaze orange during hunting seasons. Pets on leash near the buttes. Pack out all trash (there are no facilities at the trailhead). Check USFS Pawnee Ranger District for current road conditions, raptor closures, and any current rules before visiting.

Briggsdale (the nearest town, 10 miles south; limited services), the town of Greeley (35 miles south — Greeley has full services and the Union Colony Civic Center), Crow Valley Recreation Area (in the national grassland, near Briggsdale — a campground and recreation area), Fort Collins (65 miles southwest — Colorado State University’s home city with excellent services), and the Wyoming border grassland (the Pawnee Buttes area is near the Wyoming border, and the shortgrass prairie continues north into the Wyoming Great Plains) define the region. The Pawnee Buttes are an easy half-day or full-day addition to any trip from Fort Collins to the northeastern Colorado plains, a landscape that most Front Range residents have never explored.

Arrive at the Pawnee Buttes at sunrise in late April or early May for the finest raptor-nesting experience — ferruginous hawks are the largest North American hawk (56-inch wingspan) and are commonly visible from the trail, either on their nest on the butte ledges or soaring over the grassland below. Bring a spotting scope for the butte cliff faces (prairie falcon nests are on the cliff walls — you can see the adults bringing food to the nestlings from a safe observation distance with a scope). The Pawnee National Grassland Birding Trail (a driving tour with numbered birding stops — pick up the guide at the Pawnee Ranger District in Greeley or download it from USFS) provides the complete bird list and best stop locations for the grassland. The buttes at sunset, with the big prairie sky turning orange and pink, are one of the finest landscape photographs in Colorado.