(2025 Balloons and Beyond Ep 11)
As September came to a close, we left Great Sand Dunes National Park and the Colorado alligators for Black Canyon of the Gunnison National Park, a lesser-known national park about a half day’s drive away.
We stopped in Gunnison, CO to resupply and to refuel Percy. Lunch was at 5 Bs BBQ, named for members of the Brown family who started a Gunnison catering business in 1991, expanded to a food trailer, moved into a gas station and settled into their current building in 2022. Their restaurant story is as great as the Q they serve!
Tummies, truck and pantry full, we discovered our route through town was blocked off for a high school homecoming parade. After a quick detour, we were back on the road.
Crawford Camping
We endured more than 30 miles of winding highway and finally arrived at Crawford State Park, our campsite for the next three nights while we explored Black Canyon of the Gunnison National Park.
Colorado’s Big Four
Utah’s big five national parks are on many travelers’ bucket lists. Zion, Bryce Canyon, Capitol Reef, Arches and Canyonlands are not to be missed!
Colorado has its own bucket list combination of four national parks that are more diverse than those in Utah: Rocky Mountain, with incredible views at the top of the Rocky Mountains, Great Sand Dunes, with the tallest dunes in North America, Mesa Verde, the location of antient Puebloan cliff dwellings, and Black Canyon of the Gunnison, where the Gunnison River has carved a deep and narrow slit in the earth.
North Rim of the Black Canyon
We visited the remote north rim of the canyon, a dozen miles from the campground. The clear and cool weather couldn’t have been any better as we undertook a 3.2-mile round trip hike to Exclamation Point.
Starting at the ranger station, our first view of the canyon came after hiking about a half mile along the mostly level trail. The trail continued along side arms of the main canyon. We finally reached a viewpoint where we could see the Gunnison River, a tiny ribbon nearly 2000 feet below!
Fourteen of the canyon’s 48 miles are located within the park. Varying from 1750 to 2700 feet in depth, the canyon has been carved by the Gunnison River as it falls an average of 95 feet per mile. No other canyon combines the depth, narrowness and sheerness of Black Canyon.
Trails to the bottom of the canyon, called wilderness routes, are steep, unmarked and unmaintained scrambles. We wisely continued hiking the trail at the top of the canyon.
After posing for a selfie at a sign pointing us to Exclamation Point, we continued to a broad rock outcropping where the rugged canyon was visible from three sides. We found shade under a pinyon pine and enjoyed the view as we ate our backpack lunch.
The next morning, we returned to the park’s North Rim Road where several short trails took us to breathtaking views of the canyon. At one overlook we could see people, buses and cars on the south rim of the canyon, just .2 miles away!
Next Week
We travel to our fourth national park in Colorado, Mesa Verde NP, anticipating ranger-led tours of several cliff dwellings. Unfortunately, our plans had to change due to the US government shut down.
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Take the LONG Road... 