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We visited the Black Canyon of the Gunnison National Park in June 2023 and again in May 2024. The park is a short drive from Montrose, Colorado. During our most recent visit we stayed at the Riverbend RV Park & Cabins on the edge of Montrose. This was a very nice smaller RV Park on the banks of the Uncompahgre River.

The Black Canyon of the Gunnison National Park is a short drive from Montrose. During our first visit we took the South Rim scenic drive, a paved road that follows the canyon rim for 7 miles from Tomichi Point to High Point and features 12 overlooks. We stopped at several overlooks, each had a short trail that led to spectacular views into the canyon as well as interpretive signs giving information on the flora and fauna of the area.

During our second visit we took the East Portal Road which is a windy, steep scenic road down to the Gunnison River. East Portal is actually within the Curecanti National Recreation Area, but only accessible from within Black Canyon of the Gunnison National Park. We walked around the East Portal campground area next to the river at the Gunnison River tunnel diversion dam, and then drove to an overlook view of the Crystal Dam at the end of the East Portal Road.

Pictures from both our visits are provided below. Click on the thumbnails to view the photos.

We visited Arches National Park in October 2023. The weather was perfect, and we enjoyed our stay in the nearby town of Moab, Utah. During the visit we stayed at the Moab KOA Holiday, just outside the town.

Arches National Park is very easily accessed from Moab, being just a few miles outside of the town. During our visit, the National Park Service was operating a timed entry reservation system to avoid overcrowding in the park. We found the online reservation process relatively easy to navigate and were able to make a reservation the evening before our visit. The park was well attended but certainly not overcrowded during our visit, so it appeared that the timed entry system was achieving the desired result.

We drove the “Main Park Road” through the park, an 18 mile drive that takes in most of the iconic rock formations and arches in the park, some of which are accessed via short trails and others are visible from viewpoints and overlooks. Pictures of the park often show the famous “Delicate Arch” that you may recognize from Utah license plates, however there are also many of other “arch” and “non-arch” rock formations within the park that are equally spectacular and unique. We enjoyed a number of the shorter trails during our visit including the “Garden of Eden” and “The Windows” areas. We also took the short trail to the lower viewing area for Delicate Arch which afforded excellent views of the famous arch without taking the more strenuous trail up to the arch itself.

Below are pictures from our visit to Arches National Park in October 2023. Click on thumbnails below to view pictures.