Black Canyon of the Gunnison National Park (54th National Park, Est. 1999) and Colorado National Monument (Est. 1911).
Black Canyon of the Gunnison
After our quick 3 day visit to Utah, we arrived back in Colorado to visit Black Canyon of the Gunnison National Park, originally establish as a National Monument in 1933, it became a National Park in 1999. The North Rim Road, within the park, has been listed on the U.S. National Register of Historic Places.
The National Park contains 12 miles of the 48 mile Black Canyon. A unique fact is that because of the steep sides of the canyon, parts only receive 33 minutes of sunlight a day, which is why it is called the Black Canyon. The Gunnison River flows through the bottom of the canyon.
There are short hiking trails along the rim of the canyon but no designated tails to the bottom. We opted to vist the park using the South Rim Road and take some of the short hikes to the various view points.
South Rim Road:
Tomichi Point
Gunnison Point
Cross Fissures
Rock Point
Chasm View
Painted Wall
Painted Wall is the highest cliff in the Colorado. It gets its name from the unique patterns embedded in the walls, which were created more than a billion years ago when molten lava seeped into the cracks in the rocks, expanded, and cooled.
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| Doug likes to take pictures of me taking pictures. I love this photo because it show me doing what I love to do, take photos and visit National Parks!! |
Cedar Point
Grand Junction
When planning this trip, I wanted to make sure we were in a town on The 4th of July. The perfect stop to celebrate was Grand Junction, Colorado. The town hosts a Farmer's Market throughout the summer, a parade down Main Street, and a beautiful fireworks display that night, we all enjoyed celebrating our country in the heart of our country!
Main Street Grand Junction hosts sculptures, cafes, restaurants, and locally owned businesses. We enjoyed visiting the town and having lunch at a 50's diner.
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| Cute Candy Store! |
Colorado National Monument
Established as a National Monument by President Taft, using the Antiquities Act, in 1911. The park is a high desert on the Colorado Plateau. It is best known for Monument Canyon and the largest flat top mountain in the world, Grand Mesa. This unit of the National Park System is home to golden eagles, desert big horn sheep, and coyotes.
Rim Rock Drive
Cold Shivers Point
Red Canyon
Ute Canyon
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| Don't leave your phone unlocked when the pups are around.... |
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| We're sexy and we know it. |
Fallen Rock
Upper Ute Canyon View
Highland View
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| We are sooo happy to be able to visit Colorado National Monument and not be left in the camper all alone! |
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| All my boys in 1 photo! |
Artists Point
Monument Canyon
The Good Photo
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| The one with the bugs dive bombing us! One went up my nose. |
Independence Monument
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| Note the arrow. We hiked to this point the next morning. |
Balanced Rock
Monument Canyon Trail to Independence Monument
The day time high temperatures have been in the upper 90's, aka HOT. So, we dragged the boys, begrundgringly, out of bed at 6:30 and made it to the trail head by 7:15. The trail to Independence Monument is 2.5 miles and we were on the look out for Desert Big Horn Sheep, which the park ranger assured us we see if we left early. He was right!!
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| Where's Brodey? Part 1 |
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| Where's Nicole?? This is how I got all those cool photos of the Desert Big Horn Sheep. |
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| Where's Brodey? Part 2 |
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| Where's Brodey AND Doug? |
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| Where's Nicole? Look for the pink dot. |
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| Dunvoan and I waiting for Doug and Brodey. |
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| "Janice" was just standing along side the trail on the way back. The boys named her Janice. |
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| Collard Lizard sitting on a log... |
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| ...and one right at the end of the trail. |
After 3 weeks, we have ended our time in Colorado. Tomorrow we leave for Cheyenne, Wyoming!! We've have been gone for a little over four weeks and have just under 2 weeks to go. This has been an amazing journey, so far, and are looking forward to what is yet to come!
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