Black Canyon of the Gunnison National Park — in 2 hrs, what to see (Grand Junction: title)

[echo7tango]

Hi. Need answer fast!

I’m now in Grand Junction and will leave this morning to drive to Black Canyon of the Gunnison National Park. I only have a couple of hours to spend there before I must leave. If you’ve been or researched this park, where do you recommend that I go and see?

My initial plan is to drive to the South Rim Visitor Center, and walk out to Gunnison Point. And then I’ll take it from there.

I searched thread titles and did not find any on this beautiful national park. Several with Gunnison in the thread title but none about the NP.

Thanks in advance!

[echo7tango]

Also, I’ve read a little bit about the man, John Williams Gunnison, and this is what I’ve found.

John Williams Gunnison of New Hampshire was an early 1800s explorer of the American west. In 1837 he graduated from USMA, West Point NY, and became an artillery officer. He explored and surveyed the Great Lakes region, and then later the Great Salt Lake region. He surveyed a route for the railroad through Cochetopa Pass in the Rocky Mountains of south-central Colorado. His survey team encountered the Black Canyon, carved by the Gunnison River, which became a National Park in 1999 (Black Canyon of the Gunnison National Park). In 1853 near what is today Hinckley, UT, Gunnison was killed by a band of Pahvants, a band of the Utes, at grid location ▲ 39.27936, -112.77881 along the Gunnison Bend (of the river) and near the end of Gunnison Bend Massacre Road.

I have driven past that road on US-50 without knowing it was Gunnison’s massacre site. I won’t do that again.

[NW Crow]

For 2 hours, drive in, visitor center and rim viewpoint is enough. Stop, look far and close, listen.

I assume you have looked at some of these links:
https://www.google.com/search?q=gunn...obile&ie=UTF-8

Warner Point, PaInted Wall, Pulpit Rock...

What you don't get to in person, check out out via online pictures and videos or a return visit.

[reed303]

Have you seen Wikipedia's 11 pages of info for the Park ?

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Black_..._National_Park

[echo7tango]

Thanks, all. I did glance at the wiki page, briefly. This jumped out at me:

“The main attraction of the park is the scenic drive along US Highway 50 and Colorado Highway 92, as well as the south rim.”

[COcheesehead]

Stay in Grand Junction and drive the Colorado National Monument Rim Rock drive instead. A mini Zion.

[echo7tango]

Thank you all for the good information. We only had 2 hours to spend so we quickly visited some places along the south rim: Cedar Point, Chasm View, Pulpit Rock, Gunnison Point, and Tomichi Point. We also stopped in at the visitor center.

The Black Canyon is dramatic, and beautiful. One sign in the visitors center had this:

“The Black Canyon of the Gunnison has the greatest combination of depth, steepness, and narrowness of any canyon in North America.”

It certainly is dramatically deep, steep, and narrow!