20 Photos From Black Canyon Of The Gunnison National Park Near Montrose, CO

Black Canyon of the Gunnison National Park might be even more stunning than Grand Canyon National Park.

I know that’s a controversial take, but there was something magical about Black Canyon that made it feel even more distinct than the Grand Canyon.

To be fair, we’ve only visited both of those National Parks from above, so I might feel differently if we were to hike down into both canyons as that would give a completely different perspective.

Here are 20 photos that show why I loved Black Canyon of the Gunnison National Park so much.

The South Rim entrance of the National Park was only about 20 minutes from the hotel where we were staying (the Holiday Inn Express & Suites Montrose), so it was nice having it so close by.

There’s a road that runs along the South Rim, with a dozen overlooks along the way. All of the overlooks have a parking area near them, although most of them then involve walking along a path to get a better view of the canyon. Some of the paths are as short as 100 yards, while others are ~600 yards. In addition to the overlooks there are several trails, although time constraints and the weather meant we didn’t do any actual hiking. As it is though, walking to all 12 overlooks and back again comes to 3-4 miles, so you get a decent amount of walking in.

1) Tomichi Point

The first stop after the entrance was Tomichi Point which gave us a good taste of what the park would have to offer.

2) Visitor Center/Gunnison Point

Next up we stopped at the visitor center to get our National Parks passport stamped. At the back of the building there was a trail leading to Gunnison Point.

Despite being so far from the Gunnison River below, it was possible to hear its roar from up on the rim.

3) Pulpit Rock Overlook

Pulpit Rock Overlook gives some of the best views of the Gunnison River which carved its way through Black Canyon.

4) Cross Fissures View

The overlook at Cross Fissures View takes you fairly close to the edge, although there are barriers for safety.

It gives you a great opportunity to look down into the canyon.

5) Rock Point

A brief hailstorm rolled in as we were finishing up at Cross Fissures View, so we sat in the car waiting for it to pass before continuing on to Rock Point.

Rock Point also provided an opportunity to look down at how sharp the drop was from the canyon rim to the river below.

The Gunnison River falls an average of 95 feet per mile. That’s fairly steep and it’s what caused the river to carve such a steep canyon without it being as wide and vast as what the Colorado River did to the Grand Canyon.

6) Devil’s Overlook

Devil’s Overlook (or Devil’s Lookout) was the next stop along the road. This had one of the longest (or possibly the longest) trail to an overlook at 607 yards.

This is another overlook that helps you see the steepness of the canyon. Again, there are barriers that help keep you safe and ensure visitors don’t sit on the edge, but the barriers were close enough to be able to hold my phone out over the edge to take the photo below.

Taking photos like the one above made me a little nervous. Not because of the height but because I was worried I’d accidentally drop my phone into the Black Canyon!

7) Chasm View

The views simply got better and better as we continued, with Chasm View having a long view of the Gunnison River running along the bottom of the canyon.

8) Painted Wall View

Painted Wall View was next up, with this being the highest cliff in Colorado at 2,300 feet. That’s almost twice as tall as the Empire State Building.

As you might guess from the name, Painted Wall looks like a painted wall. The stripes and patterns were formed more than a billion years ago and were the result of molten rock being squeezed into joints and fractures of the existing rock which subsequently cooled and hardened.

9) Cedar Point

Cedar Point was a little further up the road and not only gave equally great views of Painted Wall, but of the river below too.

10) Dragon Point

It seemed like bad weather was starting to roll back in at this point, so we decided to hustle it along. The 10th stop was Dragon Point which once again had some stunning vistas.

The Painted Wall on the right almost looked like a toddler’s crayon scribbles on a wall, so it was funny to consider that the patterns were the result of molten rock forcing its way through. We’re so used to seeing rock layers on canyon walls that it was fascinating to see such a completely different kind of appearance.

11) Sunset Point

The weather that was previously rolling in had arrived by the time we reached Sunset Point. I think there were a couple of overlook sections which were right next to the parking area rather than requiring a bit of a trek to get to them, but we just had a quick look at one of them before hopping back in the car.

12) High Point

The quite literal end of the road was at High Point which is at 8,289 feet above sea level. There was a circular parking area which didn’t have too much of a view compared to so many of the previous overlooks, so we took another quick photo before getting back in the car as it had started hailing again.

The High Point parking lot is the trailhead for Warner Point. Warner Point is a nature trail that’s 1,373 yards (about 0.75 miles), so the 1.5 mile round trip could be worth it if you visit when there’s better weather than we had.

Final Thoughts

Black Canyon of the Gunnison National Park is a National Park that probably flies under a lot of people’s radar – we’d certainly not been aware of it before seeing this photo of it on the US Department of the Interior’s Facebook page a couple of years ago.

As you can tell, I’m now a big fan of it, as is Shae. Truffles is too because it’s a mostly pet-friendly National Park. Dogs are allowed on all campgrounds, roads and overlooks, as well as the Cedar Point Nature Trail, North Rim Chasm View Nature Trail and Rim Rock Trail. There are some trails and areas they’re not allowed on though, so check the Pets page for Black Canyon of the Gunnison National Park before visiting with your pup.

Other National Parks in Colorado like Rocky Mountain and Mesa Verde might get more attention, but you definitely shouldn’t miss out on visiting Black Canyon of the Gunnison as it has so much to offer.

Black Canyon of the Gunnison National Park Ticket Prices

Here were the ticket prices when we visited in June 2021:

• 7 day vehicle pass – $30
• 7 day motorcycle pass – $25
• 7 day individual pass (pedestrian or bicycle) – $15
• Black Canyon annual pass – $55

We have a National Park Service annual pass which cost $80. That meant our entry fee for Black Canyon of the Gunnison was covered by that, so we didn’t have to pay anything.