Black Canyon National Park
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North Chasm
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Imagine
a canyon more than 2000 feet deep, so narrow the slanting rays of an afternoon
sun barely have time to warm the dark gray walls of rock--conspiring to keep
much of the canyon in black shadows.
Arial Photograph
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Painted Wall
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The Black Canyon of the Gunnison National
Park, formerly known as a National Monument, became America's 55th and newest
National Park on October 23, 1999. Open all year with snow-shoeing and cross
country skiing in winter, and fishing, hiking, nature walks, camping and
campfire programs in the summer. Twelve miles east of Montrose via US 50 and
Colorado 347.
The Unaweep/Tabaguache Trail knifes through 133 miles of
Uncompahgre Plateau and Canyon, exposing millions of years of geology, including
fossils of dinosaurs. The ageless region offers scenic wonder with striated
cliffs towering a thousand feet high. The West Elk Loop is a 205 mile drive
which includes the vistas of the Black Canyon of the Gunnison and fields of
wildflowers in the Gunnison National Forest. As you tour these spectacular
southwestern Colorado routes, look for signs with the Columbine flower, which
identify these and other scenic byways.
For more information, contact the
Visitor's Center, (800) 873-0244.
Visit the National Parks Service webpage for the Black
Canyon.
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