Colorado National Monument
National Monument, Proclaimed 1911 Largely Through The Campaigning Of John Otto, Who Built Many Of The Trails By Hand And Became Its First Custodian On A Salary Of One Dollar A Month. Twenty Thousand Acres Of Red Rock Canyon Above The Grand Valley. · Fruita, Colorado
Colorado National Monument is twenty thousand acres of red sandstone canyon standing directly above Grand Junction, and it exists largely because of one obsessive man. John Otto arrived in 1906, decided the canyons should be a national park, and spent years building trails into them by hand with a pick while writing letters to anyone who would read them. The monument was proclaimed in 1911 and Otto became its first custodian at a dollar a month. He also made the first ascent of Independence Monument, a four-hundred-and-fifty-foot free-standing tower, and climbed it every Fourth of July to raise a flag - a tradition climbers still keep. Rim Rock Drive runs twenty-three miles along the canyon rims through hand-cut tunnels, and it is one of the great American cycling climbs as well as one of its great drives. There is no timed entry, no reservation and no queue, which after a summer morning at Rocky Mountain National Park is worth knowing.
1750 Rim Rock Drive, Fruita, Colorado, 81521, United States
Open twenty-four hours a year-round with no reservation required, which is increasingly unusual. The visitor centre near the west entrance keeps daytime hours and closes on major winter holidays. Rim Rock Drive is open all year but is occasionally closed in ice and snow, and rockfall has closed sections for extended periods in the past. Saddlehorn Campground is open year-round. An entrance fee applies per vehicle and interagency passes are accepted.
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