Nate Avery Trail - Buffalo Park - FUTS, AZ

Buffalo Park is a city-owned park positioned on an open plain atop a mesa. It has incredible views of the San Francisco Peaks and Mount Elden. Buffalo Park once operated as a zoo in the 1960s but soon was shut down due to lack of funds. A buffalo statue and a rock structure at the entrance are all that remain. Since then, this area has become a popular recreational site for runners, hikers, wildlife viewers, dog walkers, mountain bikers... you name it. The open grasslands allow viewing opportunities not typically found within the ponderosa pine vegetation type.


The Buffalo Park trail system consists of three trails. All trails are wide and well-maintained. There are mile markers every 1/4-mile and stations where you can do some added exercises like chin-ups, etc. Each station has a sign that indicates a recommended activity to do at that location.The First trail is a 0.50-mile straight shot north from the entrance archway. It travels along a well-graded road straight to the rear of the park boundary. Here at the fence line, you can connect to the Oldham Trail, a 3.3-mile trail traveling along the west side of Mount Elden.

Nate Avery Trail
The Second trail is a 2.0-mile loop around the park. Just after you enter the park through the archway, you'll see a trail fork off from the first trail to the right. The beginning of the trail loops around to the east of the first trail and then crosses it at the north end, now heading west. The trail completes the loop near the entrance of the park where you came in.

The Third trail is a 0.5-mile one-way trek on the outside of the park. You follow an old road west and southwest downhill to the corner of Cedar and Turquoise Drive, passing McFerson Park along the way. Find this trailhead at the southwest corner of the Buffalo Park parking area.

2007-03-08 Shilo