One of the most unique National Parks I've ever seen!
Black Canyon of the Gunnison National Park
The sheerness, narrowness and staggering depths will leave you in awe. Black Canyon is no doubt one of the most drastic and imposing canyons I have ever seen. This is unique National Park should be on everyones list!
This unique park was the second stop of my 2019 road trip. I woke up in quiet town of Silverton with two route options to chose from.
Option A: Head north on the million dollar highway to the towns of Ouray and Telluride. Then proceed north to Black Canyon of the Gunnison National Park.
Option B: Divert south to Durango for a photography class then proceed to Mesa Verde National Park.
It was a pretty easy choice, you just can’t argue with stretch of road known as “the million dollar highway”. Not to mention diverting south just seemed to go against my plan of driving as far as I could North West before having to turn around and head back to Texas.
The drive was stunning and terrifying at the same time. I will be writing a post providing more details on the drive but below is a teaser picture.
Now back to the Black Canyon of the Gunnison, a truly unique national park that really caught me off guard.
To be honest I really didn’t expect much from this park and went in with little to no preconceived information about the canyon besides the few pictures in the guide book.
The drive into the park is a somewhat steep route through lush, green irrigated farm land. Things level out by the time you make it to the entrance but the elevation gain is considerable when you look back town towards Montrose.
Not the coolest sign but in the parks defense there was another one further into the park…
The canyon briefly appeared before the turn off for the visitor center but I was focused on the road and didn’t get a good look. My jaw didn’t drop until I approached the viewing platform behind the visitor center. It was staggering at how steep and narrow the canyon was. The name Black Canyon now made a lot more sense I learned that some parts of the canyon only get 33 minutes of sunlight a day!
Sheer drop, 2000 feet down!
The visitor center (pictured below) is perfectly situated on the canyon rim!
Perched 2000 feet above, it was hard to grasp the power of the Gunnison River that created this drastic canyon over the last 2 million years.
I could only imagine what the Ute Indian tribes thought the when they first discovered the canyon. If you were unaware of the canyon you would not know it was there until you were steps away from the edge.
If you have a full day to explore…
From the visitor center take the 7 mile scenic drive around the canyon rim. There are nearly a dozen look-out points along the way. I would suggest stopping at all of them, most of them are short walks (5-10 minutes). The only look-out that is some-what demanding to reach is Warner Point, the last stop on the drive, plan 45-60 minutes round trip for that one.
If I had to pick a favorite look-out it would be the one pictured below, Painted Rock but they are all unique and worth a stop. Id love to hear which one was your favorite!
Down to the river for another unique view!
A family at one of the look-outs recommended checking out the canyon floor so after I completed the scenic drive I took the rest portal road to see the Gunnison river up close. The drive to the bottom is only 5 miles but drops significantly and is a stunning engineering achievement.
The river appeared gentle and seeing it up close did little to help me grasp how such a peaceful river could carve such a violent path through the earth.
Kayaking the river is one option for those experienced enough to navigate through the swift and erratic currents further down stream.
Experienced rock climbers can attempt to scale the canyons near-vertical walls but it would be wise to consult a guide company to get up to date climbing route information.
This unique national park also boast some of the darkest sky’s our country has to offer. I had intentions of camping under them but due to the approaching thunderstorm I deciding against staying the night.
Overview
II might catch some flack for saying this but, I think the Black Canyon of the Gunnison is in many ways more impressive than the Grand Canyon. They both should be on your list of places to visit and can hardly be held in comparison but The Black Canyon is more unique national park to visit due to the lack of hype and preconceived notions you’ll bring with you.
Have you visited Black Canyon of the Gunnison? What did you think?
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