From base camp in Grand Junction we made a day trip to Ouray and Black Canyon of the Gunnison National Park with family.
Our first stop was Ouray, where we enjoyed exploring the quaint downtown shopping district along Main Street. Ouray is surrounded by the San Juan Mountains and is known as the “Switzerland of America”. Originally a mining town, it is now supported by tourism with visitors enjoying the beautiful scenery, trails, waterfalls and hot springs. The Main Street is a National Historic District with most buildings still dating back to the nineteenth century.
Black Canyon of the Gunnison
After concluding our adventure in Ouray, we made our way to the south rim of Black Canyon, which is located 15 miles northeast of Montrose. It turned out to be a short drive from Highway 50, which we had used to reach Grand Junction earlier in the week. If we had known how close it was to the highway, we might have made the trip up, but as it was we were not feeling great then and decided to save it for later in the trip.
Black Canyon is known for some of the steepest cliffs in North America. It is known as Black Canyon because the steep canyon walls block the sunlight.
The Black Canyon visitor center on the south rim provided a great place to start, with beautiful views and a short walk to Gunnison Point. Since entry into the visitor center was limited due to COVID, I spent most of my time here outdoors enjoying the view from Gunnison Point.
Once everyone stretched their legs and piled back into the car, we worked our way from the Visitor Center west to High Point, stopping at the scenic views along the way and marveling at the breathtaking beauty of the canyon.
We did not travel to the North Rim, which requires two to three hours to reach since there are no bridges across the canyon. Jayne and I decided to save that journey for another time, since some of our travel companions had seen enough of the beautiful views between Ouray and the south rim, and the rest of us were tired of cramming ourselves into the rental minivan.