North Dakota trails · Buckhorn Trail
Buckhorn Trail
A 9.7-mile out-and-back in North Dakota, with 505 ft of climbing. Managed by the National Park Service.
Elevation profile
Most of the climbing sits in the middle third — 83% of the ascent, between mile 3.2 and mile 6.5. It gives back about 765 ft along the way, so it rolls rather than climbing steadily.
3-D terrain
USGS 3DEP ELEVATION × ESRI WORLD IMAGERY · VERTICAL ×1.5
Heads up
Getting there
Buckhorn Trail access — parking nearby. 47.61002, -103.35496 · directions
Daylight at the trailhead
On August 31, 2026 — the day this page was generated — first light reaches this trailhead at 5:38 a.m., the sun rises at 6:10 a.m. and sets at 7:36 p.m., and the last usable light fades about 8:08 p.m. (MDT) — 13 h 26 min of daylight. At about 2.7 mph plus 30 minutes per 1,000 feet of climbing, the 19.4-mile round trip takes roughly 7 h 41 min, so leaving the trailhead at sunrise puts you back around 1:51 p.m. — 5 h 45 min before sunset.
Nearby trails
- Achenbach Trail — 1.4 mi
- Maah Daah Hey — 3.9 mi
- North Achenbach Trail — 4.1 mi
- Wolf — 4.5 mi