Buffalo Peaks Wilderness, near Fairplay, is quiet meadow country with bighorn sheep

About 15 miles southwest of Fairplay, the twin Buffalo Peaks rise as two dark, rounded domes on the southwest side of the Mosquito Range. They are eroded volcanic mountains, the worn-down roots of eruptions some 28 million years ago. The wilderness around them, designated in 1993, is a gentler kind of high country than the jagged fourteeners up the road. Conifers and aspens mix with rolling meadows of grass and wildflowers, and the forest is laced with beaver ponds held in place by their own elaborate dams.

This is good walking country rather than a peak-bagging scramble. Trails climb from the east side near Fairplay and the south side toward Hartsel into open parks where you can cover quiet ground for hours. The Forest Service notes that beaver, elk, mule deer, black bears, mountain lions, and one of Colorado’s largest herds of bighorn sheep live here. If you spot the sheep, keep your distance and let them be — they are wild, and crowding them does harm.

Wilderness is a legal status, not just a mood. No bikes, no motors, limits on group size, and rules about where you camp and build fires. Some roads also close seasonally to protect wildlife. Before you go, check current trail access and rules on the Pike-San Isabel National Forests’ Buffalo Peaks Wilderness page.