---
id: "2113"
name: Pawnee Pioneer Trails
distance: "125"
duration: 3 hours
description: This byway retraces old Native American and pioneer trails on the wide, open plains. Along the way is the sudden upward jut of the striking Pawnee Buttes, rising 250 feet above the prairie.
path:
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websites:
  - url: https://www.codot.gov/travel/colorado-byways/northeast/pawnee-pioneer-trails
    name: Colorado Byways
  - url: https://www.colorado.com/byways/pawnee-pioneer-trails
    name: Colorado Travel Guide
  - url: https://www.coloradodirectory.com/maps/pawnee.html
    name: Colorado Vacation Directory
  - url: https://www.americanlegacytours.org/colorado/pawnee-pioneer-trails-road-trip/
    name: National Travel Center
  - url: https://www.thearmchairexplorer.com/colorado/pawnee-pioneer-trails-scenic-byway.php
    name: The Armchair Explorer
attractions:
  - url: https://www.fs.usda.gov/arp
    name: Arapaho and Roosevelt National Forests and Pawnee National Grassland
designations:
  - Colorado State Scenic Byway
states:
  - CO
ll:
  - -104.73191099959291
  - 40.58240100040581
bounds:
  - - -104.73191099959291
    - 40.253990000238275
  - - -103.20844999986758
    - 40.87424100032189

---

This is the kind of scenic route the high plains are known for - open and endless. The land reveals itself in increments on this seemingly infinite expanse of shortgrass prairie; a new horizon appears at the tip of every swale. The tranquil confluence of earth and sky is disturbed only by the distant silhouette of the Rocky Mountains and the sudden upward jut of the Pawnee Buttes. These 250-foot-high knobs, visible for miles around, guided Indian and pioneer travelers over the years; today they provide refuge for coyote, pronghorn antelope, prairie dogs, and hundreds of bird species. The surrounding region, first settled by 19th-century homesteaders, remains prime agricultural land, punctuated by tidy rural towns and modern-day homes on the range.