Black Canyon of the Gunnison

RN: The Black Canyon of the Gunnison National Park is located in the western part of Colorado where most folks don’t go or even know about. The map below shows Colorado and the location of the national park. Our Airbnb is located just outside of Crawford about 9 miles from the northern rim of the Black Canyon.

The Black Canyon was formed by the Gunnison River as it cut through rock pushed up by the same uplift that created the towering rock we saw at the Garden of the Gods in Colorado Springs. This rock, called schist, is the same that you can see at the bottom of the Grand Canyon. It is a dark, very hard volcanic rock that can be carved best by rivers that flow quickly. According to Wikipedia, “The Gunnison River drops an average of 34 feet per mile (6.4 m/km) through the entire canyon, making it the 5th steepest mountain descent in North America. By comparison, the Colorado River drops an average of 7.5 feet per mile (1.42 m/km) through the Grand Canyon.” However, the name, Black Canyon comes from the fact that the canyon is so deep and narrow that its steepness reduces the amount of time that sun shines inside it, so it seems especially dark most of the time. In fact, the Ute, who knew about the canyon way before the Europeans stumbled upon it, avoided it out of superstition because it seemed so evil.

Following recommendations from our Airbnb host, Kelly, we drove to the North Rim and hiked a section of a trail to an outlook called “Exclamation Point” and it was truly exclamatory!! As in “Wow!” “Awesome!” “Holy Cow!” “OMG!”

FE. What attracted me to this National Park is that it is a bit out of the way and described as a deep canyon experience unlike any other. Naturally, we chose to visit the North Rim, because it is even less visited than the South Rim, and it is an easy drive from our cabin. Today, I am really getting my dirt road driving fun in, about 20 miles. The main ranger station and trailhead has parking spaces for only about 20 cars, and we got one of the last!

Here I am on the way from the ranger station on the trail to Exclamation Point

First view of the painted wall, it is hard to grasp its enormity in a photo

and here a view from our hike, the canyon is over 2000 feet deep and just bit over 1000 wide

and finally, a view of the river, it may look like a trickle, but its a mighty river and its roar is easily heard on the rim above

Now, we hike back to the station and take the North Rim drive. Here is a long exposure close-up showing the power of the Gunnison river, taken from a vantage point on the drive

Do you see the “Kneeling Camel”? I think it is a dromedary though

It is not all rocks and water…here is a flowering cactus

Until recently we had not encountered mosquitos, but now they are starting to show up….red splotches on our Tesla bug-wipe

Done with the Black Canyon and tired from our hike we treat ourselves to a nice dinner at 320 restaurant in Crawford, here is Rae’s elk tenderloin with grilled polenta etc