Blogs from Black Canyon of the Gunnison National Park, Colorado, United States, North America

We have visited the vast majority of American national parks; from Acadia NP in Maine to the National Park of American Samoa (where park rangers wear lava lava skirts), and from the Virgin Islands NP to Denali NP in Alaska; but we had never visited the Black Canyon of the Gunnison NP here in our own state of Colorado. One reason is that this park has never been on our way to other parks, as we always took the northern route across Colorado to Arches and Canyonlands NPs in Utah, or the southern route to the Great Sand Dunes and Mesa Verde NPs. Secondly, the drive to Gunnison is at the furthest extent for a day trip...215 miles or four hours drive from our home and the same distance back; making for a long day. But ... read more

After the rainy day we had yesterday, we were very happy to see bright sunny skies even though it was a little cool with temps in the high 40's and low 50's. Our plan was to visit the Black Canyon of the Gunnison National Park. It is one of the steepest, darkest and most rugged of canyons and was formed by the Gunnison River as it flowed through hard ancient rocks at the western edge of the Rocky Mountains, on its way to joining the Colorado river at Grand Junction. The gorge reaches depths of over 2,000 feet while often being only 1,500 feet across, sunlight illuminates the walls only briefly, hence the name 'Black Canyon'. The Gunnison River drops an average of 43 feet per mile through the entire canyon, making it one of the ... read more

Hello all! We are officially back online after spending 4 days in the Colorado Rockies; Camp Gunnison, which will portrayed in many pictures in the blog, is one of our ministry's root locales and is mainly used for running classes and family camps; it was a great time for all. We love you! Jim, Marsha, Clara, Sam, and Hannah... read more

What is it about an off-the-beaten-path location that is so appealing? Alan and I treasure the lack of crowds and the chance to discover something that not too many people know about. The url=http://myitchytravelfeet.com/2009/02/05/hiking-the-north-rim-at-black-canyon-of-the-gunnison-national-park/north rim of The Black Canyon of the Gunnison fits all of those parameters. Since I’m not the camping type, we choose url=http://myitchytravelfeet.com/2008/09/06/leroux-creek-inn-colorados-answer-to-the-french-wine-country/ Leroux Creek Inn & Vineyards in Hotchkiss, Colorado, for our headquarters. Our room in the southwestern style adobe bed and breakfast has views of the vineyard and the West Elk Mountains. Flowers are everywhere including hanging baskets of cascading blooms swinging in the summer breeze. Our breakfast of stuffed french toast is served at a table on the ... read more