“MUCH ROCKS, BIG WATER”

In the Black Canyon, 48 miles of the
Gunnison River drop an average of
34 ft per mile & at Chasm View,
drop 240 ft in one mile.

In our travels we’ve seen lots of canyons. Canyons of all shapes and sizes, but none combine the depth, sheerness, narrowness, darkness, and foreboding of the Black Canyon of the Gunnison River.  Native Americans avoided it. The Utes dubbed it “Much rocks, big water” but stayed out.  Europeans eventually conquered it in 1882 with a railroad route through the canyon, but it was costly & difficult to operate and eventually abandoned in 1955. 

Today the river is somewhat tamed by the dams up river, but still treacherous.  The bottom of the canyon is accessible, but only to the eager, willing and proficient. Expert kayakers must be prepared to drag their gear around dangerous and impassable stretches of the river to experience the thrill of class III-V rapids.  Advanced rock climbers can scale the sheer cliffs of the inner canyon or hikers can spend 2 hours scrambling down unmaintained draws and 4 hours crawling back up. As if rapids, cliffs, and steep draws (one aptly named S.O.B) aren’t a deterrent; poison ivy grows abundantly in the draws and along the canyon floor, ticks lay in wait in the gulches ready to pounce and afternoon thundershowers can make for a bad hair day.

The Painted Wall at 2,250 ft
is the tallest cliff in Colorado
Do you see the Dragon?

Fortunately for those of us not willing to drag a kayak, rappel down a cliff or crawl through poison ivy beating off ticks, there are paved roads and hiking trails along the north and south rim, (so we can at least look down with that flutter in the stomach) and one set of 16% switchbacks to the river at the eastern end of the canyon.

The National Park has 3 campgrounds: the South Rim provides electricity for tents & RVs, the North Rim has dry camping for tents & RVs and the East Portal along the river, is limited to tents and tiny trailers (max total vehicle & trailer length of 22 ft.)  We opt to stay near the north rim in the Iron Creek campground of Crawford State Park.  We have water, electricity, great views of the rolling hills, the reservoir and a small herd of deer who visit every morning and evening.

With full sun for 33 min/day
timing is everything.

Black Canyon Road, near Crawford is the only access to the north rim.  There’s a small ranger station but no visitor center.  The Chasm View Nature Trail starts near the campground and leads to a number of vista points, where we can view 2,000+ ft. sheer cliffs and look straight down to the canyon floor, safely behind heavy guard rails.  The North Vista Trail starts near the ranger station. After crossing the mesa, the trail winds along the canyon rim.  There are spur trails that take us right to the edge.  No civilized barriers here… just slick rock and sheer cliffs… down… down… down.  At the three-mile mark, we stop at Exclamation Point.  Here we have a strait view of the river through the canyon.  The cliffs are so steep that the river is in full sun for only 33 minutes a day… and we hit it pretty close to this window.

Exclamation Point
Top of the Painted Wall
No Guard Rails Here… and it's
2,250 ft  straight down! 

The south rim is the civilized rim.  We start at the visitor center and catch a short film about the Canyon.  Then it’s a cruise along the South Rim Drive with stops at all of the turnouts.  Some of the views are right off the road, while others have a short hike to the viewpoint.  Every view is breathtaking.

Gunnison River below Crystal
Reservoir Dam
hard to believe this turns into
class V rapids...

The East Portal Road is the only access to the river.  It’s paved with a series of 16% grade switchbacks.  At the bottom of the road, the Gunnison diversion dam feeds the GunnisonTunnel.  This 5.8 mile engineering marvel diverts water from the Gunnison, through the mountain, to the arid Uncompahgre Valley near Montrose.   The road ends at the Crystal Reservoir Dam (no public access to the reservoir here.) The river is flowing and from the number of anglers present we assume that this must be a good spot for fly-fishing although no fish were harmed during our visit.

Besides great scenery, for driving and hiking around the canyon there are numerous roadside fruit & vegetable stands, selling local organic goods… Our Colorado favorites: Olathe Sweet corn and Palisade Peaches are still on the menu… YUM!