Monday, October 29, 2018

The Black Canyon of the Gunnison National Park


While my husband and I were visiting Crested Butte, Colorado, at the end of September -- click here, here and here, to see those posts, we decided to take a side trip to The Black Canyon of the Gunnison National Park.  This was going to be our second visit to this unique national park. We visited it in 2016 in late November--click here to read my post about that visit-- when we celebrated Thanksgiving in the towns of Telluride, Ouray, and Ridgway in SW Colorado. At that visit, the only section of the national park that was open was the area around the visitor center.  The rest of the road and trails were closed due to snow and ice. We vowed to come back someday to see the rest of the park and were happy to be able to visit it again at this time. (All photos will enlarge when clicked on)


Driving south-west from Crested Butte on US 50 to CO 347 it took us an hour and 45 minutes to reach the main entrance of the park. Along the way, I had my first glimpse of the Gunnison River that flows through the canyon.


The first stop in the park, Tomichi Point, shows the impressive, steep, deep and narrow canyon. The park protects the deepest 14 miles of the Black Canyon gorge, about 75 miles upstream from the Gunnison's junction with the Colorado River.


A placard at this stop shows the eleven more viewpoints that are ahead in the park a total 6-mile drive.



The first viewing platform in the distance, as seen from the park's visitor center window. At the visitor center, we enjoyed seeing exhibits and a movie about the Black Canyon of the Gunnison and the history of its explorers and the attempts to navigate the Gunnison River and build a railroad at the bottom. You can read more about the canyon's history on this link.


At each of the eleven stops, there is a trail leading to a viewing platform that allows for safe spectacular views down into the canyon.


Black Canyon of the Gunnison exposes you to some of the steepest cliffs, oldest rock, and craggiest spires in North America. 



With two million years to work, the Gunnison River, along with the forces of weathering, has sculpted this vertical wilderness of rock, water, and sky.


The Black Canyon is so named because its steepness makes it difficult for sunlight to penetrate into its depths. As a result, the canyon is often shrouded in shadow, causing the rocky walls to appear black. At its narrowest point, the canyon is only 40 ft (12 m) wide at the river. 



The canyon has some of the world’s oldest exposed rock — Precambrian or “basement” rock that is nearly 2 billion years old!




My husband peering over the side at one of the viewpoints.

Each stop along the way is named and has the length of the trail leading to the viewing platform. 


All of the stops are along the south rim of the canyon, There is no bridge crossing over the canyon and road access on the north side is very limited.


The Painted Wall section of the Black Canyon of the Gunnison is the tallest sheer cliff in Colorado at 2,250 feet (690 m). Lighter-colored pegmatite dikes are clearly visible in the rock walls.




The Gunnison River drops at a far steeper pace than the Colorado River in the Grand Canyon. At its steepest part, the river drops 240 feet per mile.

The elevation of the top of the rim of the canyon is almost 8,000 feet, and the canyon descends 2,000 to 2,722 feet above the swift and turbulent Gunnison River below. That depth is near twice the height of the Empire State Building!



You can see mountain ranges in the distance from portions of the rim.


There are unmaintained hiking trails on the north and south rims of the canyon, which take about two hours to hike down, and four hours to hike back up. 

All inner canyon descents are strenuous and require Class 3 climbing and basic route finding skills, plus an official permit. Most visitors to the park view the canyon by the various scenic overlooks.

On this visit, we were able to drive down to the Gunnison River by taking the East Portal Road inside the park. This provides access into Curecanti National Recreation Area where camping, picnicking and fishing are available.



The road is extremely steep --16% grades--with hairpin curves. 


Down, down, down, we descended...


 ...until we reached the banks of the Gunnison River.


Here we were able to park and walk along a portion of the river...


..and admire the views looking up! 

There are trails to hike on the bottom of the canyon, but they require permits and more time than we had.


We spent almost the entire day at the rim of the Black Canyon of the Gunnison, driving and then hiking to all of its magnificent viewpoints...


..and knowing we had an almost two hours drive back to Crested Butte, we left the area to return to the town for a late dinner. We were so happy that we were finally able to see the entire national park from the south rim and the bottom up. It certainly was one of the most unique parks we have ever visited!

On my next post, I'll show you the Blue Mesa and the very unusual topography of the Curecanti National Recreation Area that we passed along the way.


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I'm linking this post to the following blog events:

Amaze Me MondayMosaic MondayAll SeasonsBlue Monday,  Through My Lens MondayInspiration Monday, Blogging GrandmothersHearth and Soul Link PartyYou Are the Star Blog HopGood Random FunNature NotesGrand SocialTravel Photos, Photo Tunes, Happiness Is HomemadeTuesday TreasuresPictorial TuesdayOur World TuesdayRuby TuesdayTuesdays With A TwistParty in Your PJ'sWordless WednesdayNanahood WWOh My Heartsie Girl's Wonderful WednesdayOutdoor Wednesday, Words On WednesdayWhimsical WednesdayYour Whims WednesdayWednesday Around the WorldWonderful Wednesday,  Share Your CupLittle Things Thursday, A Blogging Good TimeThankful ThursdayThursday Favorite ThingsThursday Traffic Jam Weekend LinkyPretty Pintastic PartyFriendship FridaysFriday Photo JournalSkywatch FridaySweet Inspiration, Pink SaturdaySaturday CrittersOver the MoonHappiness Is Homemade, Wandering Camera (monthly-last Thursday of the month)


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51 comments:

Small City Scenes said...

My oh my----that is so breathtaking. Amazing
MB

Pat @ Mille Fiori Favoriti said...

Thank you for taking the time to comment on my blog. I read each one and appreciate them all!

Mersad said...

Stunning views and landscapes. The hiking trails in the canyon seen very interesting but also challenging. As you said the south rim seems like a very unique spot and place to explore from.

Maggie said...

Visiting the canyon in September was a brilliant idea, what a spectacular place it is. I've never seen anything as majestic, from the top the river looks like a little stream - it is vast!
Thank you so much for taking us along on another fabulous trip to somewhere that I know I shall never personally in real life.
Happy MM.

eileeninmd said...

Hello, looks like a beautiful day to visit the park. The views of the canyon and river are lovely. Wonderful collection of photos. Happy Monday, enjoy your day and the new week!

Penny from Enjoying The Simple Things said...

Wow! How beautiful! Thanks for taking me along with you!

EricaSta said...

A wonderful Post for Image-In-Ing. Interesting to read, thank you for sharing!

ellen b. said...

Wow, wow, wow...such beautiful vistas!

candy said...

What a beautiful canyon, adding this to our travel list. Found you on Grandma's Briefs Link Party

Anonymous said...

Wow, marvelous weblog format! How lengthy have you been running
a blog for? you make blogging look easy.
The whole look of your website is excellent, as neatly
as the content!

Snap said...

A geologist and anthropologist delight! Ha! You really should write a Colorado travel book! Hugs----

~Lavender Dreamer~ said...

What steep drop offs! It's great that they have lots of overlooks and you saw so much by driving! I don't think I would be up for that kind of hiking! Enjoy your week!

Photo(Geo)grapher said...

Great post! Stunning views and landscapes.

Maggid said...

amazing post - I feel like I've attended a terrific seminar - and, such beautiful views!!! Thank you.

Linda W. said...

A National park I'd like to visit someday. Thanks for the detailed report!

William Kendall said...

An incredible, majestic landscape! You've photographed it beautifully.

Al said...

Beautiful photos - I remember my visit there fondly. I'm sorry to see pop-up ads taking up real estate at the bottom of your beautiful blog.

Michelle said...

A beautiful place. You have such a great selection of parks in your state.

NanaHood said...

That's gorgeous! Thanks for sharing!

Ruth Hiebert said...

Those are some spectacular sights.

Lady Fi said...

Wow - so scenic!

Lorrie said...

What a rugged area to explore, full of craggy rocks and cliffs with that beautiful ribbon of blue water running through at the bottom. Gorgeous photos, Pat.

Anonymous said...

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I'm definitely loving the information. I'm book-marking and will be tweeting this
to my followers! Great blog and brilliant style and design.

Anonymous said...

Pretty! This was an incredibly wonderful post. Many thanks for supplying this info.

Anonymous said...

Appreciate the recommendation. Let me try it out.

Joanne said...

Oh wow! These are truly stunning views. I have never heard of this national park.

NCSue said...

Great shots!
Thanks for joining us at http://image-in-ing.blogspot.com/2018/10/home-made-ravioli-first-attempt.html

Karen (Back Road Journal) said...

How lucky you are to live in a part of the country where you have an abundance of beautiful day trips available in all directions.

Anonymous said...

Having read this I believed it was really
enlightening. I appreciate you taking the time and energy to put this informative article together.
I once again find myself spending way too much time both reading and leaving comments.
But so what, it was still worthwhile!

Ericka @ A Quiet Girl's Musings... said...

I just recently had a friend who visited this NP. Before her visit, neither she or I had ever heard of it. It really has some stunning scenery and STEEP canyon walls!

Visting from Sharon's Souvenirs

Photo Cache said...

Incredible scenery and landscape.

Worth a Thousand Words

Anonymous said...

Thanks for the marvelous posting! I quite enjoyed reading it, you happen to
be a great author. I will remember to bookmark your blog
and will eventually come back at some point.

I want to encourage you continue your great job, have a nice day!

Junieper said...

Such awesome views, Pat! So different, because a great part of the mountains you showed are black! Love the birds eyed view of the river, and well as the later captures of the Gunnison river. Looks like it would take several days to enjoy and see everything! Many thanks for sharing this beauty with All Seasons. Thank you for your vote:)

Rambling Woods said...

The blue of the water against the stark rock..Beautiful..Michelle

Angie said...

Pat - wow, wow, wow. It is not often that I add something to my bucket list, but I did after reading this post and gazing with my mouth open at these spectacular pictures! And my hubby and I will be some of those people that get special permits to hike the unmaintained trails!!! I was wondering how this might compare with the Grand Canyon (we have hiked into it and camped overnight) and you answered that .. thank you! And I am so glad you had the weather to not only check this off your list, but also to make for terrific photos!

Carol @Comfort Spring Station said...

Another beautiful place to explore - love your photos!

Anonymous said...

Wonderful images! This is one of the places in my list to visit.

Anonymous said...

Appreciating the hard work you put into your website and in depth information you provide.

It's nice to come across a blog every once in a while that isn't
the same old rehashed material. Great read! I've saved your site and I'm including your
RSS feeds to my Google account.

Anonymous said...

I couldn't refrain from commenting. Exceptionally well written!

Magical Mystical Teacher said...

The Black Canyon of the Gunnison is not for those who are afraid of heights! Thanks for linking to Blue Monday!

Meditations in Motion said...

Wow! Gorgeous scenery. I will have to put this on my list of places to see. We live in PA but have a son who lives in CO (Steamboat Springs). We usually just go directly to visit him and do not take the time to explore the state but hubby is retiring in December. We hope to visit more Colorado destinations.

Michelle said...

This is such a gorgeous place. So many places like this in Colorado. I know you are enjoying it! Thanks for linking up today!

Lowcarb team member said...

I think it's all so majestic!
The views of the canyon and river are lovely.

All the best Jan

Jill said...

We visited here 2 summers ago and I found the whole place fascinating. I knew very little about Black Canyon so we took in all the viewpoints, watched the movie about the history of it and were just amazed at this place. Fantastic photos!

betty-NZ said...

What a fabulous place! The scenery is incredible! Wow!

Anonymous said...

I was able to find good advice from your blog articles.

Jennifer Wise said...

WOW!! That's just amazing scenery. I moved to Colorado 4 years ago, so I am still trying to see everything. :) My husband just told me about this canyon last week, so I loved seeing all your pictures.
#friendshipfriday

Photo(Geo)grapher said...

Wow! How beautiful place to visit! Amazing photos!

Anonymous said...

We are so lucky to live in a magnificent world of such beauty, I just got back from a Mountain trip here in Australia at Mount Buffalo, gosh it was so beautiful and I believe getting back to nature is soul food, you can see my pics on Instagram @macglanville if you like. Your photographs are breathtaking, thank you so much for linking up with us for #AbloggingGoodTime

Sallie (FullTime-Life) said...

It really is a breathtaking place isn't it? Wonderful photos. I need to go see if I can find my own post on our visit there because I can't remember where we stayed when we visited there. (Two good reasons to blog -- to help my memory as well as to look at posts by people like you who take better pictures of places where we've been than I do!).

Indah Nuria Savitri said...

It's incredible indeed! I love to see the amazing sky..it looks so clan and peaceful!