Black Canyon of the Gunnison

As we continued on from the area of the previous post along the northern side of the Gunnison River we arrived at our planned destination for the day, the Black Canyon of the Gunnison National Park North Rim. When we walked up to the observation post for the "Narrows" we ran into another group from Kansas. They insisted on taking our picture so we were happy to let them.

The photos are hardpressed to show the awsome granduer of this chasm. The canyon is 48 miles long and the river loses more elevation than the 1,500 mile long Mississippi River does from Minnesota to the Gulf of Mexico! The river drops an average of 96 feet per mile in the national park. It drops 480 feet in one two mile stretch. Fast, debris-laden water carving hard rock made the canyon walls so steep.


Standing at the top of this canyon and looking down at the river below is a stirring experience. The water rushes past and even at the height we were above you can clearly hear it. The color does not show up in the photos as well as in person. It is a green color. At Warner point the canyon is 2,772 feet deep!




The canyon gets its name from the fact that it is so deep that sunlight does not get to the bottom most of the day and the walls are shrouded in shade which lend a dark foreboding look to it. Needless to say we really enjoyed our visit.