Utah Vacation-Black Canyon of the Gunnison

Today’s plan was to go back to Colorado and explore the Black Canyon of the Gunnison National Park. We decided that we wanted to see this area while thinking about the trip months ago. The only issue with this destination was the distance. We knew we’d be in the car all day and we still wouldn’t be able to see everything.

We started the day by eating breakfast, packing the cooler, and loading the Rogue. Then we were off to Colorado. We followed the interstate east to Grand Junction, then continued south through Montrose to Gunnison National Park.

David and Susan at the park entrance

We followed the road up out of the valley and stopped at South Rim Visitor Center. Unfortunately, it was closed for lunch. Next to us in the parking lot was a car from Ohio. The driver was heading for the car, so Mom said, “O-H” and waited for the standard response, which never came. The lady asked, “Oh, was I supposed to say ‘I-O’? I’m not from Ohio. This is just a rental.”

We were hungry, so we looked for picnic tables on the map. We stopped at Pulpit Rock Overlook for a picnic lunch in the bushes. During lunch, I walked across the street to use the restroom. What I found was the nicest outhouse I’ve ever seen. Who makes an outhouse out of logs?

High class outhouse

After lunch, we headed west along the South Rim Road. We stopped and hiked at each overlook on the way up to High Point. The views down into the canyon were incredible. The north wall is nearly vertical. At its deepest point, it is 2,250 feet down to the river below.

View down into Black Canyon

View of the North Rim from the South Rim

David holds on tight at one of the overlooks

Painted Wall from one of the overlooks

You may have noticed that many rocks and formations have names that represent what someone saw when they looked at it, for example the Wooden Shoe. On this trip, one overlook is called Dragon Point. I’m not sure if the name came from the rock, but I could clearly see a giant lizard sitting on the rock below. Someone must have cut off its tail.

Giant rock lizard near Dragon Point

On the way back from High Point, we stopped at the South Rim Visitor Center. After a brief stop, we continued down to East Portal. The road down to East Portal is very steep – like 16% grade. It is also very twisty. On one of the many switchbacks, we came across a deer and her little baby Bambi standing beside the road. I’m glad they weren’t on the road because there’s no way I would have swerved to miss them and risked going over the edge.

Fishermen in the Gunnison River near East Portal

The road continued all the way down to the Gunnison River. We stopped and saw some fishermen wading in the water. We continued further down the road until it ended at the Gunnison Dam. On the way back, we stopped at another pull off and walked down the river's edge. The water was ice cold, as one would expect, coming from the bottom of a huge dam.

By this time, it was getting late, and we had a long drive ahead of us. Back in Montrose, we decided that a shake would be nice, so we looked on the map and found Crash Burger right along our route. We stopped for a shared shake, then continued back to Utah.

Crash Burger in Montrose, Colorado

Back in Utah, we pulled off the interstate at Harley’s Dome view area. Andrew and I walked up the short, steep trail to the viewpoint. The landscape was aglow with magic light. There were signs for elk in the area and I was hoping I might see a small herd somewhere in the distance. No such luck.

Back on the interstate, we continued to Green River. We stopped one final time and topped off the tank for our drive to Salt Lake City tomorrow morning.

Click the image below to see all pictures from the trip.