Perins Peak Trail

If you hate hiking on trails that also have bike users, this is one of the few in the Durango that you'll have all to yourself. Take note that the trail often becomes overgrown and you may want to wear long sleeves and pants. From the parking area head left, down a steep ravine and up the other side. You'll cross a grassy meadow that usually has some wildflowers and views of the nearby buttes. The initially flat trail is mostly singletrack through brushy forest. Pass through a burned ponderosa pine area with some downed trees and clamber up through some steeper, eroded gullies. Lots of scrub oak and cedar shrubs crown the trail in places. Finally you'll emerge from the denser forested area in a pass between two hills. The trail becomes much steeper and rockier after this point. You'll walk through large grassy meadows and start heading south along the ridegeline that makes up Perrins Peak. To the southwest you'll get views of the Twin Buttes area and Lake Nighthorse. Continue uphill to crest the hill where a pile of rocks mark the highpoint. If you continue east and slightly downhill you'll arrive at two huge, white radio/radar (?) boards and several large stick structures. This is a good turn around point. This mountain was named after Charles Perins, who laid out the Durango townsite for the Denver and Rio Grande Railroad in 1880.