{"id":18669,"date":"2026-09-10T20:47:43","date_gmt":"2026-09-11T03:47:43","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/streaming2nps.com\/?p=18669"},"modified":"2026-09-10T20:49:48","modified_gmt":"2026-09-11T03:49:48","slug":"along-the-gunnison-river","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/streaming2nps.com\/?p=18669","title":{"rendered":"Along the Gunnison River"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Between Gunnison and Montrose…Amazing Geology!<\/strong><\/h4>\n\n\n\n

Two stops to explore 2<\/mark><\/strong> new interrelated<\/strong><\/em> National Park Sites<\/strong><\/mark>. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Curecanti National Recreation Area<\/strong><\/mark> (#368), made up of 3 reservoirs and surrounding lands in western Colorado. It is a landscape of tradeoffs; natural and human made features exist together. Geologic wonders are abundant from the sagebrush shrublands to forests. Human occupation of this area dates back to at least 10,000 years ago. In 1965, Blue Mesa Dam was completed, followed by Morrow Point and Crystal dams in 1967 and 1976. They are part of the Wayne N. Aspinall Storage Unit<\/a>, established to provide water storage to the Upper Colorado River Basin states of Colorado, Wyoming, New Mexico and Utah. No surprise, the water is quite low <\/strong>now.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Black Canyon of the Gunnison National Park<\/strong><\/mark> (#369), west and downriver from Curecanti, is home to some of the steepest cliffs, oldest rock, and craggiest spires in North America (which actually start in the western portion of Curecanti). Forces of nature and the Gunnison River sculpted this canyon over two million years. The result is a vertical wilderness of rock, water, and sky. The Black Canyon was carved remarkably fast because the Gunnison River drops at a steep gradient, an average of 34 to 43 feet per mile through the canyon, making it one of the steepest mountain descents in the world.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Campsite at Elk Creek Campground<\/strong><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

We camped the first 3 nights at Elk Creek Campground<\/mark> in<\/mark> Curecanti NRA<\/mark><\/strong>…our 12th National Park Campground<\/mark><\/strong> (Lizzy <\/em>NP Campgrounds<\/a>). <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The last 4 nights we spent ~50 miles farther west in Montrose, the Gateway to the Black Canyon of the Gunnison National Park<\/strong><\/mark> (close access to the South Rim). <\/p>\n\n\n\n

These parks are so interrelated, that we visited elements of both parks from each camping location! <\/p>\n\n\n\n

In Curecanti NRA<\/strong><\/mark>, we visited the Elk Creek Visitor Center, drove the scenic highways of route 50 and 97 stopping at many vista points on the south and north sides of the Gunnison River, did 3 short (2 to 4 mile RT) hikes along the river (at the top of all 3 reservoirs). We also stopped at the Blue Mesa and Morrow Point Dam Overlooks, and (from Black Canyon<\/strong><\/mark>) drove down (16o<\/sup> grade) to the East Portal, where we caught a peek of the Crystal Dam and learned more about the Gunnison Tunnel, built there in 1909, to supply water to the fields and homes of Uncompahgre Valley.<\/p>\n\n\n\n