On a sunny June weekday morning I drove through Barnhartvale and up the Robbins Range Road to the Buse Hill trailhead.    I hiked up the steep double track to a small lake under Buse Hill, then went off track over the east shoulder to the rim, then continued west along the rim, down through gullies on single tracks, then back up the rim, all the way to the end of the hill overlooking the Buse Pinnacle.    On the way back, I looped through the forest and joined the main track on the south-facing grassland slopes.

At about 1.2 kilometers up the track,  a small lake sits in a low spot between the hills.    The actual summit of Buse Hill is on the northeast side, but there is no established trail there since it is outside of the park.

The main track goes to the rim overlooking Buse Lake Protected Area and Barnhartvale.     There are wide views northeast, north, and northwest from the rim trail.

From several points along the rim, the views to the west feature the Buse Pinnacle and beyond toward Sunrise Mountain in Barnhartvale.

A single track can be hiked out to the end of the ridge and to a spot overlooking the pillar.    The trail winds through open forest with several viewpoints.

On the way back I followed a different track back to join the open grassland slopes leading back to the Robbins Range Road.

The Buse Hill hike (including the route out to the Pillar) is about 4.3 km, taking about 2 hours, but with the many viewpoints and many wildflowers along the way, it will take another half hour out on the trails.

• More Information – There are more posts on hiking this area on this website, on RambleOn, and on our YouTube Channel.