Curecanti National Recreation Area

Three Reservoirs On The Dammed Gunnison River, Managed By The National Park Service. Blue Mesa Is The Largest Body Of Water In Colorado And The Largest Kokanee Salmon Fishery In The United States, And The Curecanti Needle Above Morrow Point Was The Emblem Of The Denver And Rio Grande Railroad. · Gunnison, Colorado

Curecanti is what happened when the Gunnison River was dammed three times in the 1960s: twenty miles of reservoir where there used to be a canyon, and a National Recreation Area wrapped around it. Blue Mesa is the largest body of water in Colorado and holds the largest Kokanee salmon fishery in the country, which is why the boat ramps are busy all summer. The better half of the place is downstream, where Morrow Point Reservoir runs through a genuine gorge and the Curecanti Needle rises seven hundred feet out of the water - a granite spire so striking that the Denver and Rio Grande Railroad put it on its logo. A park boat tour runs that stretch, reached by descending two hundred and thirty-two stairs. Drought has hit the reservoirs hard in recent years, dropping levels far enough to close boat ramps outright, which is the thing to check before towing anything up here. Black Canyon of the Gunnison begins where the last dam ends.

102 Elk Creek, Gunnison, Colorado, 81230, United States

Open year-round, with the Elk Creek Visitor Center and most facilities operating on a seasonal schedule roughly from May to September. Campgrounds are largely seasonal. THE MORROW POINT BOAT TOUR IS SEASONAL, TICKETED, BOOKS AHEAD, and is reached only by walking down 232 stairs on the Pine Creek Trail. WATER LEVELS HAVE FALLEN SHARPLY IN DROUGHT YEARS and boat ramps close as a result - check current ramp status before towing a boat. Ice fishing takes over in winter when conditions allow.

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