Frommer's National Parks of the American West - Don Laine [47]
Just the Facts
GETTING THERE & GATEWAYS
The park is on Colo. 347, 6 miles north of U.S. 50. To reach the south rim, travel east 8 miles from Montrose on U.S. 50 to the well-marked turnoff. To reach the north rim from Montrose, drive north 21 miles on U.S. 50 to Delta, east 31 miles on Colo. 92 to Crawford, then south on an 11-mile access road.
The Nearest Airports. The Montrose Regional Airport, 2100 Airport Rd. (☎ 970/249-3203), is off U.S. 50, 2 miles northwest of town, and served by American, Continental, SkyWest, and United. Car-rental agencies with outlets at the airport include Budget, Dollar, National, and Thrifty.
A bigger airport is Walker Field, in Grand Junction (☎ 970/244-9100; www.walkerfield.com), which has direct flights or connections from most major cities on America West Express, Delta/ Skywest, Frontier, Great Lakes, and United Express. Car rentals are available at the Grand Junction airport or nearby
from Alamo, Avis, Budget, Enterprise, Hertz, National, and Thrifty.
Toll-free reservations numbers for airlines and car-rental companies appear in the appendix (p. 660).
INFORMATION
For information on both the national park and the adjacent Curecanti National Recreation Area, contact Black Canyon of the Gunnison National Park, 102 Elk Creek, Gunnison, CO 81230 (☎ 970/641-2337; www.nps.gov/blca). A bookstore at the South Rim Visitor Center, operated by the Western National Parks Association, offers a variety of publications, including the very useful South Rim Driving Tour Guide, published by the association.
For information on other area attractions, lodging, and dining, contact the Montrose Visitors & Convention Bureau, 433 S. First St. (P.O. Box 335), Montrose, CO 81402 (☎ 800/873-0244 or 970/240-1414; www.visitmontrose. net), or stop at the visitor center (☎ 970/249-1726) in the Ute Indian Museum, 17253 Chipeta Dr., on the south side of town off U.S. 550. It's open daily from 9am to 4:30pm in summer, and the same hours Monday through Saturday the rest of the year. Information on federal lands in the area, including those under the jurisdiction of the Bureau of Land Management, is available at the Public Lands Center, 2505 S. Townsend Ave. (☎ 970/240-5300), which is open weekdays year-round.
VISITOR CENTERS
The park's South Rim Visitor Center is open year-round, except on winter federal holidays; the North Rim Ranger Station is open intermittently in summer but closed at other times.
FEES & PERMITS
Admission for up to 7 days costs $8 per vehicle or $4 per person on foot, bike,
or motorcycle. In summer, camping costs $10 per night for basic sites and $15 for sites with electric hookups; when water is turned off in winter, costs are $5 and $10, respectively. Required backcountry permits are free.
SPECIAL REGULATIONS & WARNINGS
Visitors are warned to not throw anything from the rim into the canyon, since even a single small stone thrown or kicked from the rim could be fatal to people below. Visitors are also advised to supervise children very carefully— many sections of the rim have no guardrails or fences.
Unlike at most national parks, leashed pets are permitted on some of the shorter rim trails (check with rangers), but they are specifically prohibited on others and are not permitted in the inner canyon or wilderness areas.
SEASONS & CLIMATE
Temperatures and weather conditions often vary greatly between the canyon rim and the canyon floor; it gets progressively hotter as you descend into the canyon. Average summer temperatures range from highs of 60° to 90°F (16°C–32°C), with summer lows dropping to 30° to 50°F (–1°C to 10°C). In winter, highs range from 20° to 40°F (–7°C to 4°C), with lows from 0°F to 20°F (–18°C to –7°C). Brief afternoon thunderstorms are fairly common in the summer. The South Rim Road usually remains open to the visitor center through the winter, but snow often closes the North Rim Road between