Colorado

We visited the Colorado National Monument on an extremely hot day in June 2024. We were staying at the Riverbend RV Park & Cabins on the edge of Montrose, about one-and-a-half hours away from the park. On the way to the park we stopped for lunch at Trail Life Brewing in the historic downtown district in the town of Grand Junction. We continued on for about half-an-hour to the northern entrance of the park near the town of Fruita, and stopped at the Saddlehorn Visitor Center to learn about the park and its history.

The main road through the park is Rimrock Drive which runs some 22.5 miles from the northern entrance near Fruita to the southern entrance near Grand Junction. This is a spectacular winding mountain road with many overlooks. We appreciated that we could see so much of the park from the overlooks just off the road as it was really too hot to do much hiking that day.

We were only able to drive about half-way along Rimrock Drive due to a road closure for road repairs, however we enjoyed many beautiful scenic views from the overlooks along that section.

Rimrock Drive has an interesting history. Sections of the road date back to an original rough-cut automobile road through the monument, eventually known as Serpents Trail, that was built between 1912 and 1921. After the establishment of the Colorado National Monument, the “new road” that eventually became the current Rimrock Drive was built between 1933 and 1950, primarily by the Civilian Conservation Corps. The extended construction period was due in part to a break in all work between 1942 and 1949 due to the second world war. Upon completion of the new road, the original Serpents Trail made into a hiking trail.

Photos of our visit are provided below. Click on the thumbnails to view the photos.

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.