There are several confusing issues in hiking this trail. To begin with, the Buck Mt Trail does not have its own trailhead. We started by driving to the Howard Creek Horse Area and parking there in the Day Use Parking Lot. That lets you begin at the Howard Creek Trailhead, from which it's probably a half-mile hike to the junction with the Buck Mt Loop Trail. We hung a left there and hiked the loop in a clockwise direction.

Another confusing aspect of the Buck Mt Loop Trail is----where is Buck Mountain? Old trailhead signs show Buck Mountain in the middle of the loop, but looking for it in the past has only caused disorientation. On this trip with my BLACKBERRY in hand, and the GPS laying down a track on the topo map, I got the picture. Click here to see map. This trail is actually a loop around the rim of the Howard Creek drainage. In the middle of the loop is not a mountain, but the deep canyon of Howard Creek. I'm not sure where they came up with this name, as there is no Buck Mountain anyplace close by.

Signage on this trail is now quite good, with signs at all the junctions and even mile markers along the trail. The Buck Mt Loop Trail is listed as six and ½ miles, but you will need to hike about ½ mile to get to the loop, as well as ½ mile back at the end to get back to the parking lot.

On past trips on this trail, both on mountain bikes and on foot, some huge muddy morasses, made for some messy negotiating. This time however, I was pleased to find that a lot of work has been done on draining these areas and the route, although somewhat muddy, was not the 'over the top of your boots' type.