Black Canyon of the Gunnison National Park
National Park, Redesignated 1999 From A National Monument Proclaimed In 1933. Protects The Deepest And Most Dramatic Twelve Miles Of A Canyon So Narrow And Sheer That Parts Of It Receive Barely Half An Hour Of Direct Sunlight A Day. An International Dark Sky Park. · Montrose, Colorado
The Black Canyon is not the deepest canyon in America, nor the narrowest, nor the steepest - it is the combination of all three that makes it unlike anywhere else. In places it is more than two thousand feet deep and barely a thousand feet across at the rim, with walls that fall sheer to a river dropping an average of thirty-four feet per mile, among the steepest descents of any river in North America. The Painted Wall is Colorado's tallest cliff at two thousand two hundred and fifty feet. Parts of the gorge are so hemmed in that they get about half an hour of direct sun a day, which is where the name comes from. The South Rim road runs twelve overlooks along the edge; the inner canyon has no maintained trails at all - the routes down are unmarked scrambles that need a permit and a conversation with a ranger first. Visitation is a fraction of Colorado's other national parks, which is much of the appeal.
9800 Highway 347, Montrose, Colorado, 81401, United States
The South Rim is open year-round, though the road beyond the visitor centre closes in winter and becomes a ski and snowshoe route. THE NORTH RIM IS A DIFFERENT PROPOSITION - reached by a long unpaved road from Crawford, it is closed in winter and is two to three hours' drive from the South Rim despite being a thousand feet across the gorge. East Portal Road, the only road to the river, is extremely steep and closed in winter, with a strict vehicle length limit. Inner canyon routes need a free wilderness permit.
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